Hosea 5; Hosea 6; Hosea 7; Hosea 8

1 Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, house of the king! The judgment concerns you because you have been a trap at Mizpah, and a net spread out upon Tabor.

2 In their wicked condition, they have sunk deep into corruption; I will correct them through judgment.

3 I know Ephraim; Israel doesn't escape my eye; for now Ephraim you have acted like a prostitute; Israel is defiled.

4 Their deeds don't allow them to return to their God, because the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don't know the LORD.

5 Israel's pride is a witness against him; both Israel and Ephraim stagger because of their guilt; Judah staggers with them.

6 With their sheep and their cattle they will go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have acted faithlessly against the LORD; for their children have produced illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them along with their fields.

8 Blow a horn in Gibeah; blow a trumpet in Ramah. Sound the warning at Beth-aven: "Look behind you, Benjamin!"

9 Ephraim will become a horrible place on the Judgment Day. Against the tribes of Israel I will certainly announce what is to take place.

10 The princes of Judah act like raiders who steal the land; I will pour out my anger like water upon them.

11 Ephraim is under pressure from its enemies; Ephraim's rights aren't protected. This is because Ephraim chose to pursue worthless things.

12 Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and Ephraim sent for the great king. But he could not heal them; nor could he cure their wound.

14 I am like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I am the one who tears the prey and goes forth; no one can snatch it from me.

15 I will leave so that I can return to my place until they pay for their deeds, until they seek me. In their distress, they will beg for my favor:

1 "Come, let's return to the LORD; for it is he who has injured us and will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will bind us up.

2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, so that we may live before him.

3 Let's know, let's press on to know the LORD; whose appearing is as certain as the dawn; who will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that give drink to the earth."

4 Ephraim, what will I do with you? Judah, what will I do with you? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that vanishes quickly.

5 Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth like a light.

6 I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

7 But like Adam they broke the covenant; then they acted in bad faith against me.

8 Gilead is a city of wicked people, tracked with blood.

9 As robbers lie in wait for someone, so the priests are in league with each other; they murder on the road to Shechem; they have done evil things.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible; Ephraim acts like a prostitute; Israel is defiled.

11 For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I would improve the circumstances of my people.

1 When I would heal Israel, the evil acts of Ephraim are exposed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; for they deceive and steal, a thief breaks in; a group of bandits raid outside.

2 But they don't consider within their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds show who they are, right in front of my face.

3 By their wickedness they make the king glad, and give joy to the officials with their lies.

4 They all act like adulterers; they are like a heated oven, whose baker doesn't need to stoke the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

5 On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand to those who mocked him.

6 They approach like a hot oven, their hearts burning. Throughout the night, their anger smolders; in the morning, it continues to burn like a flaming fire.

7 All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; none of them call upon me.

8 Ephraim mixes himself among the people; Ephraim is like flatbread that is cooked on only one side.

9 Strangers have eaten up his strength, yet he doesn't know it; gray hairs are sprinkled here and there upon him, yet he doesn't know it.

10 Israel's pride is a witness against him; yet they don't return to the LORD their God, or seek him because of all this.

11 Ephraim has become like a dove, silly and without common sense; they call upon Egypt; they go to Assyria.

12 As they go, I will spread my net over them; like birds in the sky, I will bring them down; I will judge them according to the report made to their assembly.

13 Doom to them, for they have strayed from me; destruction will be their lot because they have rebelled against me. I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.

14 They don't cry to me from the heart, but they sob upon their beds; they fight over grain and wine; they resist me.

15 It was I who gave them their strength, yet they plot evil against me.

16 They return, but not to the Most High; they have become like a worthless bow; their officials will fall by the sword because of the rage of their tongues; in Egypt they will make fun of them.

1 Put a trumpet to your lips! It's as if a bird of prey has flown over the LORD's house, because they have broken my covenant, and have not kept my Instruction.

2 Israel cries to me, "My God, we know you!"

3 Israel has turned away from the good; the enemy will pursue him.

4 They set up kings, but not through me; they chose princes, but without my knowledge. With silver and gold they crafted idols for their own destruction.

5 Your calf is rejected, Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they remain guilty?

6 The calf is from Israel, a person made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be smashed.

7 Because they sow the wind, they will get the whirlwind. Standing grain, but no fresh growth; it will yield no meal; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

8 Israel is swallowed up; among the nations, they are now like a useless jar.

9 They have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.

10 Though they have bargained with the nations, I will now gather them up. They will soon be diminished due to the burden of kings and princes.

11 When Ephraim added more altars to take away sin, they became altars to him for sinning.

12 Even though I write out for him a large number of my instructions, they are regarded as strange.

13 Though they offer choice sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the LORD doesn't accept them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.

14 Israel has forgotten his maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied walled cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it will devour his fortresses.