Chapter 5
1 " Listen to this , you priests ! Listen , house of Israel , and give ear , house of the king ! For the judgement is against you ; for you have been a snare at Mizpah , and a net spread on Tabor .
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter , but I discipline all of them .
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me ; for now , Ephraim, you have played the prostitute . Israel is defiled .
4 Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God , for the spirit of prostitution is within them , and they don’t know the LORD .
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face . Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity . Judah also will stumble with them .
6 They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD , but they won’t find him . He has withdrawn himself from them .
7 They are unfaithful to the LORD ; for they have borne illegitimate children . Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
8 " Blow the cornet in Gibeah , and the trumpet in Ramah ! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin !
9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke . Amongst the tribes of Israel , I have made known that which will surely be .
10 The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark . I will pour out my wrath on them like water .
11 Ephraim is oppressed , he is crushed in judgement, because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
12 Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth , and to the house of Judah like rottenness .
13 " When Ephraim saw his sickness , and Judah his wound , then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Jareb : but he is not able to heal you , neither will he cure you of your wound .
14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion , and like a young lion to the house of Judah . I myself will tear in pieces and go away . I will carry off , and there will be no one to deliver .
15 I will go and return to my place , until they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face . In their affliction they will seek me earnestly ."