Chapter 5

Judgment on Israel and Judah

¹“Hear this, O priests!

Take heed, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O royal house!

For this judgment is against you

because you have been a snare at Mizpah,

a net spread out on Tabor.

²The rebels are deep in slaughter;

but I will chastise them all.

³I know all about Ephraim,^a

and Israel is not hidden from Me.

For now, O Ephraim,

you have turned to prostitution;

Israel is defiled.

⁴Their deeds do not permit them

to return to their God,

for a spirit of prostitution is within them,

and they do not know the LORD.

⁵Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;

Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

even Judah stumbles with them.

⁶They go with their flocks and herds

to seek the LORD,

but they do not find Him;

He has withdrawn Himself from them.

⁷They have been unfaithful to the LORD;

for they have borne illegitimate children.

Now the New Moon^b will devour them

along with their land.

⁸Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,

the trumpet in Ramah;

raise the battle cry in Beth-aven:^c

Lead on, O Benjamin!

⁹Ephraim will be laid waste

on the day of rebuke.

Among the tribes of Israel

I proclaim what is certain.

¹⁰The princes of Judah

are like those who move boundary stones;^d

I will pour out My fury

upon them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,

for he is determined to follow worthless idols.^e

¹²So I am like a moth to Ephraim,

and like decay to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness

and Judah his wound,

then Ephraim turned to Assyria

and sent to the great king.^f

But he cannot cure you

or heal your wound.

¹⁴For I am like a lion to Ephraim

and like a young lion to the house of Judah.

I, even I, will tear them to pieces

and then go away.

I will carry them off

where no one can rescue them.

¹⁵Then I will return to My place

until they admit their guilt and seek My face;

in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”