הושע ה

Hear this, O priests,
Attend, O House of Israel,
And give ear, O royal house;
For right conduct is your responsibility!
But you have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread out over Tabor;

For when trappers dug deep pitfalls,
I was the only reprover of them all.

Yes, I have watched Ephraim,
Israel has not escaped my notice:
Behold, you have fornicated, O Ephraim;
Israel has defiled himself!

Their habits do not let them
Turn back to their God;
Because of the lecherous impulse within them,
They pay no heed to GOD.

Israel’s pride shall be humbled before his very eyes,
As Israel and Ephraim fall because of their sin
(And Judah falls with them).

Then they will go with their sheep and cattle
To seek GOD—whom they will not find.
They have been cast off:

[Because] they have broken faith with GOD,
Because they have begotten
Alien children.
Therefore, the new moon
Shall devour their portion.

Sound a ram’s horn in Gibeah,
A trumpet in Ramah;
Give the alarm in Beth-aven;
After you, Benjamin!

Ephraim is stricken with horror
On a day of chastisement.
Against the tribes of Israel
I proclaim certainties:

The officers of Judah have acted
Like shifters of field boundaries;
On them I will pour out
My wrath like water.

Ephraim is defrauded,
Robbed of redress,
Because he has witlessly
Gone after futility.

For it is I who am like rot to Ephraim,
Like decay to the House of Judah;

Yet when Ephraim became aware of his sickness,
Judah of his sores,
Ephraim repaired to Assyria—
He sent envoys to a patron in the sense of “to champion, uphold the cause of,” in Isa. 1.17; 3.13; 19.20 end; 51.22. king!
He will never be able to cure you,
Will not heal you of your sores.

No, I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
Like a great beast to the House of Judah;
I, I will attack and stride away,
Carrying the prey that no one can rescue;

And I will return to My abode—
Till they realize their guilt.
In their distress, they will seek Me
And beg for My favor.