Hosea 5

¹Hear this, priests![#Hs 4:1]

Pay attention, house of Israel!

Listen, royal house!

For the judgment applies to you

because you have been a snare at Mizpah

and a net spread out on Tabor.

²Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter;[#Hs 9:15; #Hs 4:2; 6:9]

I will be a punishment for all of them.

³I know Ephraim,[#Hs 6:4; 7:1; Am 3:2; 5:12]

and Israel is not hidden from Me.

For now, Ephraim,

you have acted promiscuously;

Israel is defiled.

⁴Their actions do not allow them

to return to their God,

for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,

and they do not know the Lord .

⁵Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.[#Lit against his face; #Hs 7:10]

Both Israel and Ephraim stumble

because of their wickedness;

even Judah will stumble with them.

⁶They go with their flocks and herds

to seek the Lord

but do not find Him;

He has withdrawn from them.

⁷They betrayed the Lord ;[#Is 48:8; Hs 6:7]

indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.

Now the New Moon will devour them

along with their fields.

⁸Blow the horn in Gibeah,[#Hs 9:9; 10:9]

the trumpet in Ramah;

raise the war cry in Beth-aven:

After you, Benjamin!

⁹Ephraim will become a desolation[#Is 28:1-4; Hs 9:11-17]

on the day of punishment;

I announce what is certain

among the tribes of Israel.

¹⁰The princes of Judah are like those

who move boundary markers;

I will pour out My fury on them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,[#Hs 9:16]

for he is determined to follow what is worthless.

¹²So I am like rot to Ephraim[#Ps 39:11; Is 51:8]

and like decay to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness

and Judah his wound,

Ephraim went to Assyria

and sent a delegation to the great king.

But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.

¹⁴For I am like a lion to Ephraim[#Ps 7:2; Hs 13:7; Am 3:4]

and like a young lion to the house of Judah.

Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.

I will carry them off,

and no one can rescue them.

¹⁵I will depart and return to My place

until they recognize their guilt and seek My face;

they will search for Me in their distress.