1 O ye priests, hear this; take heed, O thou household of Israel; give ear, O thou kingly house. For this punishment will come upon you, that are become a snare unto Mizphah, and a spread net unto the mount of Tabor.
2 They kill sacrifices by heaps, to beguile the people therewith: therefore will I punish them all.
3 I know Ephraim well enough, and Israel is not hid from me: for Ephraim is become a harlot, and Israel is defiled.
4 They are not minded to turn unto their God, for they have an whorish heart, so that they cannot know the LORD.
5 But the pride of Israel will be rewarded him in his face, yea both Israel and Ephraim shall fall for their wickedness, and Judah with them also.
6 They shall come with their sheep and bullocks to seek the LORD, but they shall not find him, for he is gone from them.
7 As for the LORD, they have refused him, and brought up bastard children: a month therefore shall devour them with their portions.
8 Blow with the shawmes at Gibeah, and with the trumpet in Ramah, cry out at Bethaven upon the yon-side of Benjamin.
9 In that time of the plague shall Ephraim be laid waste, therefore did I faithfully warn the tribes of Israel.
10 Yet are the princes of Judah become like them, that remove the landmarks: therefore will I pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, and can have no right of the law. For why? They follow the doctrines of men.
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as a caterpillar.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his disease: Ephraim went unto Assyria, and sent unto king Jareb: yet could not he help you, nor ease you of your pain.
14 I am unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a lion's whelp to the house of Judah. Even I, I will spoil them, and go my way. I will take them with me, and no man shall rescue them.
15 I will go, and return to my place, till they wax faint, and seek me.