Hosea 5–6

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

5“Hear this, O priests!

Take heed, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For ¹yours is the judgment,

Because ^ayou have been a snare to Mizpah

And a net spread on Tabor.

²The revolters are ^bdeeply involved in slaughter,

Though I rebuke them all.

^3cI know Ephraim,

And Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, ^dyou commit harlotry;

Israel is defiled.

⁴“They ²do not direct their deeds

Toward turning to their God,

For ^ethe spirit of harlotry is in their midst,

And they do not know the Lord.

⁵The ^fpride of Israel testifies to his face;

Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

Judah also stumbles with them.

⁶“With their flocks and herds

^gThey shall go to seek the Lord,

But they will not find Him;

He has withdrawn Himself from them.

⁷They have ^hdealt treacherously with the Lord,

For they have begotten ³pagan children.

Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

⁸“Blow ⁱthe ram’s horn in Gibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah!

^jCry aloud at ^kBeth Aven,

‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’

⁹Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;

Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

¹⁰“The princes of Judah are like those who ^lremove a landmark;

I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is ^moppressed and broken in judgment,

Because he willingly walked by ⁿhuman precept.

¹²Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,

And to the house of Judah ^olike rottenness.

¹³“When Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah saw his ^pwound,

Then Ephraim went ^qto Assyria

And sent to King Jareb;

Yet he cannot cure you,

Nor heal you of your wound.

¹⁴For ^rI will be like a lion to Ephraim,

And like a young lion to the house of Judah.

^sI, even I, will tear them and go away;

I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.

¹⁵I will return again to My place

Till they ⁴acknowledge their offense.

Then they will seek My face;

In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

A Call to Repentance

6Come, ^aand let us return to the Lord;

For ^bHe has torn, but ^cHe will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will ¹bind us up.

^2dAfter two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

^3eLet us know,

Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.

His going forth is established ^fas the morning;

^gHe will come to us ^hlike the rain,

Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

⁴“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?

O Judah, what shall I do to you?

For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,

And like the early dew it goes away.

⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,

I have slain them by ⁱthe words of My mouth;

And ²your judgments are like light that goes forth.

⁶For I desire ^jmercy ³and ^knot sacrifice,

And the ^lknowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷“But like ⁴men they transgressed the covenant;

There they dealt treacherously with Me.

^8mGilead is a city of evildoers

And ⁵defiled with blood.

⁹As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,

So the company of ⁿpriests ^omurder on the way to Shechem;

Surely they commit ^plewdness.

¹⁰I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:

There is the ⁶harlotry of Ephraim;

Israel is defiled.

¹¹Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,

When I return the captives of My people.