Hosea

5 “Hear this, you priests,+

Pay attention, O house of Israel,

Listen, O house of the king,

For the judgment involves you;

Because you are a trap to Mizʹpah

And a net spread over Taʹbor.+

 2 And those falling away* have sunk deep* in slaughter,

And I am warning* all of them.

 3 I know Eʹphra·im,

And Israel is not hidden from me.

For now, O Eʹphra·im, you have acted promiscuously;*

Israel has defiled itself.+

 4 Their dealings do not permit them to return to their God,

Because there is a spirit of prostitution* among them;+

And Jehovah they do not acknowledge.

 5 The pride of Israel has testified against him;*+

Both Israel and Eʹphra·im have stumbled in their error,

And Judah has stumbled with them.+

 6 With their flock and their herd they went to look for Jehovah,

But they could not find him.

 7 They have betrayed Jehovah,+

For they have fathered foreign sons.

11 Eʹphra·im is oppressed, crushed by judgment,

For he was determined to follow after his adversary.+

12 So I was like a moth to Eʹphra·im

And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

13 When Eʹphra·im saw his sickness, and Judah his ulcer,

Eʹphra·im went to As·syrʹi·a+ and sent to a great king.

But he was unable to heal you,

And he could not cure your ulcer.

14 For I will be like a young lion to Eʹphra·im,

And like a strong lion* to the house of Judah.

I myself will tear to pieces and go away;+

I will carry them off, and no one will rescue them.+

15 I will go away and return to my place until they bear the consequences of their guilt,

And then they will seek my favor.*+