Hosea 5–6

5Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king; for unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. ²And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all. ³I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled. ⁴Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah. ⁵And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them. ⁶They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them. ⁷They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; for they have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.

⁸Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin. ⁹Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. ¹⁰The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. ¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after man’s command. ¹²Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. ¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim 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 unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver. ¹⁵I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

6Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. ²After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. ³And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.

⁴O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away. ⁵Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. ⁶For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. ⁷But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. ⁸Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained with blood. ⁹And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem; yea, they have committed lewdness. ¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there whoredom is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled. ¹¹Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.