Another Symbolic Marriage

3 And Yahweh said to me again,

“Go, love a woman

⌊who has a lover⌋a and is committing adultery,

just like the love of Yahweh for the children of Israel,

but they are turning to other gods

and love raisin cakes.”

2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver

and a homer of barley and a measure of wine.b

3 And I said to her,

“⌊You must remain as mine⌋c for many days,

and you will not play the whore;

⌊you will not belong⌋d to a man,

and I will belong to you.”

4 The children of Israel will remain for many days

without a king and prince,

without sacrifice and stone pillar, ephod and teraphim.

5 Afterward the children of Israel will return

and seek Yahweh their God and David their king.

They will come in fear to Yahweh

and to his goodness at the end of days.

Yahweh Has an Indictment

4 Hear the word of Yahweh, O children of Israel,

for Yahweh has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or loyalty,

there is no knowledge of God in the land.

2 Swearing and lying,

murdering and stealing,

and adultery break out,a

and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Therefore the land mourns,

and all those living in it languish

with the animals of the field,

and the birds of the heaven,

and even the fish of the sea

are being swept away.

4 Yet, let no one contend,

and let no one accuse,

for with you, O priest, is my contention.b

5 You will stumble by day,

and the priest also will stumble

with you at night.

And I will destroy your mother;

6 My people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from acting as a priest for me.c

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your children.d

7 When they became many, their sin increased against me;

they changede their glory into shame.

8 ⌊They feed on the sin of my people⌋,f

⌊they are greedy⌋g for their iniquity.

9 And it will be like people, like priest;

I will punish themh for theiri ways,

and I will requite themj for theirk deeds.

10 They will eat and not be satisfied;

they will play the whore and not multiply,

because they have forsaken Yahweh ⌊to devote themselves to

11 whoredom⌋.l

Wine and new wine ⌊take away the understanding⌋.m

12 My people,

consult ⌊their wooden idols⌋,n

and their divining rod gives them oracles;

because a spirit of whoredom led them astray,

and they played the whore from under their God.o

13 On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice,

and on the hills they make offerings,

under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because theirp shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and all your daughters-in-lawq commit adultery.

14 ⌊I will not punish your daughters⌋r when they play the whore,

or your daughters-in-laws when they commit adultery;

because they go aside with whores,

and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes,

a people that does not understand comes to ruin.

15 Even though you, O Israel, are playing the whore,

do not let Judah become guilty;

do not enter Gilgal,

or go up to Beth-aven;

and do not swear,

“⌊As Yahweh lives⌋!”t

16 Indeed, like a stubborn heifer,

Israel is stubborn;

Now Yahweh will feed them,

like a lamb in broad pasture.u

17 Ephraim is joined to idols;

let him alone.

18 When their drinking has ended,

they surely indulge in sexual orgies.

They love lewdness more than theirv glory.

19 A wind has wrapped themw in its wings,

and they will be ashamed because of their altars.

The Priests Are a Snare

5 Hear this, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Listen, O house of the king!

Because the judgment applies to you;

because you have been a snare for Mizpah,

and a net spread out on Tabor;

2 they dug a deep pita in Shittim,

but I am a punishment for all of them.

3 I myself know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me;

because now you have played the whore, O Ephraim—

Israel is defiled.

4 Their deeds do not permit them

to return them to God.

Because a spirit of whoredom is in their midst,

they do not know Yahweh.

5 The pride of Israel testifies ⌊against him⌋,b

and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their guilt,

and Judah stumbles with them.

6 With their flocksc and herdsd they will go

to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him;

he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have dealt faithlessly with Yahweh

because they have borne illegitimate children.

Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

8 Blow the ⌊horn⌋e in Gibeah,

the trumpet in Ramah.

Sound the alarm in Beth-aven;

look behind you, Benjamin.

9 Ephraim will be a desolation

in the day of punishment;

among the tribes of Israel

I will reveal what is true.

10 The princes of Judah have become

like those who remove a landmark;

on them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed,

crushed in judgment,

because he was determined

to go after filth.f

12 But I am like a maggot to Ephraim

and like rottenness to the house of Judah.

13 And when Ephraim saw his illness,

and Judah his wound,

Ephraim went to Assyria,

he sent to the great king.g

But he was unable to cure you

and heal your wound.

14 Because I will be like a lion to Ephraim

and like a fierce strong lion to the house of Judah.

I myself will tear and I will go;

I will carry off, and there is no one who delivers.

15 ⌊I will return again⌋h to my place

until they acknowledge their guilt

and seek my face;

in their distress they will searchi me.