Hosea 5:8–6:6

8  jBlow the horn in kGibeah,

the trumpet in lRamah.

Sound the alarm at mBeth-aven;

we follow you,2 O Benjamin!

9  Ephraim shall become a desolation

in the day of punishment;

among the tribes of Israel

I make known what is sure.

10  The princes of Judah have become

like nthose who move the landmark;

upon them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

11  Ephraim is ooppressed, crushed in judgment,

because he was determined to go after filth.3

12  But I am plike a moth to Ephraim,

and plike dry rot to the house of Judah.

13  When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah qhis wound,

then Ephraim went rto Assyria,

and sent to the great king.4

sBut he is not able to cure you

or heal qyour wound.

14  For I will be tlike a lion to uEphraim,

and like a young lion to the house of uJudah.

vI, even I, will tear and go away;

I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

15  wI will return again to my place,

until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,

and xin their distress earnestly seek me.

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

6 “Come, let us yreturn to the Lord;

for zhe has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and ahe will bind us up.

2  After two days bhe will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

3  cLet us know; clet us press on to know the Lord;

dhis going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us eas the showers,

fas the spring rains that water the earth.”

4  What shall I do with you, gO hEphraim?

What shall I do with you, O hJudah?

Your love is ilike a morning cloud,

ilike the dew that goes early away.

5  Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them jby the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6  For kI desire steadfast love1 and not sacrifice,

lthe knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.