¹“Listen to this , you priests !

Listen , house of Israel ,

and give ear , house of the king !

For the judgement is against you ;

for you have been a snare at Mizpah ,

and a net spread on Tabor .

²The rebels are deep in slaughter ,

but I discipline all of them .

³I know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me ;

for now , Ephraim, you have played the prostitute .

Israel is defiled .

⁴Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God ,

for the spirit of prostitution is within them ,

and they don’t know the LORD .

⁵The pride of Israel testifies to his face .

Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity .

Judah also will stumble with them .

⁶They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD ,

but they won’t find him .

He has withdrawn himself from them .

⁷They are unfaithful to the LORD ;

for they have borne illegitimate children .

Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

⁸“Blow the cornet in Gibeah ,

and the trumpet in Ramah !

Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin !

⁹Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke .

Amongst the tribes of Israel , I have made known that which will surely be .

¹⁰The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark .

I will pour out my wrath on them like water .

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed ,

he is crushed in judgement,

because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

¹²Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth ,

and to the house of Judah like rottenness .

¹³“When Ephraim saw his sickness ,

and Judah his wound ,

then Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to King Jareb :

but he is not able to heal you ,

neither will he cure you of your wound .

¹⁴For I will be to Ephraim like a lion ,

and like a young lion to the house of Judah .

I myself will tear in pieces and go away .

I will carry off , and there will be no one to deliver .

¹⁵I will go and return to my place ,

until they acknowledge their offence,

and seek my face .

In their affliction they will seek me earnestly .”