5
1 “Listen
to this, you
priests!
Listen, house of
Israel,
and give ear,
house of the
king!
For the judgment
is against you;
for you have
been a snare
at Mizpah,
and a net
spread on Tabor.
2 The rebels
are deep in
slaughter,
but I discipline
all of them.
3 I
know Ephraim,
and Israel is
not hidden from
me;
for now, Ephraim,
you have played
the prostitute.
Israel is defiled.
4 Their
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.
5 The
pride of Israel
testifies to his
face.
Therefore Israel
and Ephraim will
stumble in their
iniquity.
Judah also will
stumble with them.
6 They
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He has withdrawn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.
7 They
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!
9 Ephraim will
become a
desolation in the
day of rebuke.
Among the tribes
of Israel, I
have made known
that which will
surely be.
10 The
princes of Judah
are like those
who remove a
landmark.
I will pour
out my wrath
on them like
water.
11 Ephraim is
oppressed,
he is crushed
in judgment,
because he
is intent in
his pursuit of idols.
12 Therefore
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.
14 For
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.
15 I
will go and
return to my
place,
until they acknowledge
their offense,
and seek my
face.
In their
affliction they
will seek me
earnestly.”