Hosea Chapter 5
Judgment Against Israel’s Leaders
1 “Hear this, priests!
Pay attention, Israel!
Listen, family of the king!
Your idolatry at Mizpah has set a trap
and cast a net on Tabor.
2 You rebels have gone deep in slaughter,
but I’ll punish you all for it.
3 I know what you’re doing, Ephraim;
you can’t hide from me, Israel.
Ephraim, you’ve left me like a prostitute;
Israel, you’ve defiled yourself.
4 Your deeds keep you from coming back to me.
You’re totally a prostitute;
you don’t know the LORD. Hos 5:1-4
5 “Israel’s arrogance testifies against him;
Israel and Ephraim stumble under the weight of their guilt;
Judah stumbles with them.
6 They’ll go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD, but they won’t find him;
he’s withdrawn from them.
7 They’ve dealt deviously with the LORD
because they’ve borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them along with their fields.
Hos 5:5-7
8 “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah;
blow the bugle in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
cringe, Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will become a pile of rubble when he’s rebuked;
that’s for certain.
10 Judah’s officials are like people that remove landmarks;
I’ll pour out my anger on them like a waterfall.
11 Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed in condemnation,
because he was determined to follow vanity.
12 So I’ll be like a moth in Ephraim,
like rot in Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria;
he sent for King Jareb.
But he can’t heal you
or cure you from your wound.
14 I’ll be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to Judah.
I’ll tear them to pieces
and take them away;
nobody will rescue them.
15 I’ll go back to my place
till they admit their guilt and turn to me;
when trouble comes,
they’ll earnestly rely on me.”
Hos 5:8-15