Hosea 5:1-15 - The Priests Are A Snare

¹ Hear this, priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread out on Tabor.
² Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter;
I will be a punishment for all of them.
³ I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from Me.
For now, Ephraim,
you have acted promiscuously;
Israel is defiled.
⁴ Their actions do not allow them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,
and they do not know the Lord.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their wickedness;
even Judah will stumble with them.
⁶ They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord
but do not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
⁷ They betrayed the Lord;
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their fields.

⁸ Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah;
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:
After you, Benjamin!
⁹ Ephraim will become a desolation
on the day of punishment;
I announce what is certain
among the tribes of Israel.
¹⁰ The princes of Judah are like those
who move boundary markers;
I will pour out My fury on them like water.
¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
for he is determined to follow what is worthless.
¹² So I am like rot to Ephraim
and like decay to the house of Judah.
¹³ When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent a delegation to the great king.
But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
¹⁴ For I am like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.
I will carry them off,
and no one can rescue them.
¹⁵ I will depart and return to My place
until they recognize their guilt and seek My face;
they will search for Me in their distress.