Hosea 5

The Punishment for Israel's Apostasy

1Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

3I know E´phra-im, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O E´phra-im, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

4They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord .

5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and E´phra-im fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord ; but they shall not find him ; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7They have dealt treacherously against the Lord ; for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8Blow ye the cornet in Gib´e-ah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–a´ven, after thee, O Benjamin.

9E´phra-im shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11E´phra-im is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

12Therefore will I be unto E´phra-im as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13When E´phra-im saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went E´phra-im to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.[#5.13 to the king should plead.]

14For I will be unto E´phra-im as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him .

The Insincerity of Israel's Repentance

15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Published by: American Bible Society