5:1Hear this, ye priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ear, O house of the king: for this judgment is for you; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
5:2And they have plunged themselves in the corruption of apostasy, but I will be a chastiser of them all.
5:3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, Ephraim, thou hast committed whoredom; Israel is defiled.
5:4Their doings do not allow them to return unto their God; for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they know not Jehovah.
5:5And Israel's pride doth testify to his face; and Israel and Ephraim shall fall by their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with them.
5:6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.
5:7They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; for they have begotten strange children: now shall the new moon devour them, with their allotted possessions.
5:8Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; cry aloud at Beth-aven: behind thee, O Benjamin!
5:9Ephraim shall be a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which is sure.
5:10The princes of Judah are become like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
5:11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because in selfwill he walked after the commandment of man.
5:12And I will be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sore, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb; but he was unable to heal you, nor hath he removed your sore.
5:14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.
5:15I will go away, I will return to my place, till they acknowledge their trespass, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
6:1Come and let us return unto Jehovah: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
6:2After two days will he revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before his face;
6:3and we shall know, -- we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth.
6:4What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.
6:5Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and my judgment goeth forth as the light.
6:6For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.
6:7But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
6:8Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is tracked with blood.
6:9And as troops of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way of Shechem; yea, they commit lewdness.
6:10In the house of Israel have I seen a horrible thing: the whoredom of Ephraim is there; Israel is defiled.
6:11Also, for thee, Judah, is a harvest appointed, when I shall turn again the captivity of my people.
7:1When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they practise falsehood; and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers assaileth without.
7:2And they say not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now do their own doings encompass them; they are before my face.
7:3They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
7:4They all practise adultery, as an oven heated by the baker: he ceaseth from stirring the fire after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
7:5In the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine: he stretched out his hand to scorners.
7:6For they have applied their heart like an oven to their lying in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth like a flaming fire.
7:7They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
7:8Ephraim, he mixeth himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
7:9Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not.
7:10And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face; and they do not return to Jehovah their God, nor seek him for all this.
7:11And Ephraim is become like a silly dove without understanding: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
7:12When they go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowl of the heavens; I will chastise them, according as their assembly hath heard.
7:13Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them! for they have transgressed against me. And I would redeem them; but they speak lies against me.
7:14And they cried not unto me in their heart, when they howled upon their beds; they assemble themselves for corn and new wine; they have turned aside from me.
7:15I have indeed trained, I have strengthened their arms, but they imagine mischief against me.
7:16They return, but not to the Most High: they are like a deceitful bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.