Hosea 5:5-15

5 And the boast of Israel shall answer into the face thereof, and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their wickedness; also Judah shall fall with them. (And the boast of Israel crieth out against them, and Israel, yea, Ephraim, shall fall by their own wickedness; and Judah shall fall with them.)

6 In their flocks and in their droves, they go to seek the Lord, and they shall not find (him); he is taken away from them. (With their flocks and their herds, they go to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him; for he hath taken himself away from them.)

7 They trespassed against the Lord, for they engendered alien sons; now the month shall devour them with their parts. (They trespassed against the Lord, for they have begotten children who be strange, or foreign, to him; and soon they and their fields shall be devoured, or destroyed.)

8 Sound ye with a clarion in Gibeah, with a trump in Ramah; yell ye in Bethaven, after thy back, Benjamin.

9 Ephraim shall be into desolation, in the day of amending, and in the lineages of Israel I showed faith. (Ephraim shall be into desolation, on the day of correction; ye tribes of Israel, I have made known what shall surely be!)

10 The princes of Judah be made as (those) taking (over the) term; I shall shed out on them my wrath as water. (Judah's rulers be made just like those who take over the land; I shall pour out my anger upon them like water.)

11 Ephraim suffereth false challenge, and is broken by doom (Ephraim suffereth oppression, and is broken by injustice); for he began to go after filths.

12 And I am as a moth to Ephraim, and as rot to the house of Judah. (And I am like a moth to Ephraim, or Israel, and like rot to the house of Judah.)

13 And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his bond. And Ephraim went to Assur, and sent to the king venger. And he may not save you, neither he may unbind the bond from you. (And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound. And Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he cannot save you, nor can he cure you of your wound.)

14 For I am as a lioness to Ephraim, and as a whelp of a lion to the house of Judah. I myself shall take, and go, and take away, and none is that shall deliver. (For I am like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a lion's cub to the house of Judah. I myself shall go, and shall tear them apart, and then shall carry them away, and no one shall be able to save, or rescue, them.)

15 I shall go, and turn again to my place, till ye fail, and seek my face. In their tribulation they shall rise early to me. (I shall go, and return to my place, until they fail, or suffer enough, and then seek my face. In their tribulation, they shall rise early in the morning to seek me.)

Hosea 5:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 5

The design of this chapter is to expose the sins of Israel and of Judah, and to declare the judgment of God upon them for them. Men of all ranks in Israel are summoned to attend to the charge brought against then, and the sentence on them, Ho 5:1. The charge exhibited is, that they were guilty of in, hating men to the slaughter of idolatrous sacrifices, though they had been sufficiently rebuked and corrected, Ho 5:1,2; of both corporeal and spiritual adultery, whereby they were defiled, and which was well known to the Lord, Ho 5:3; of obstinate persistence in impenitence, owing to the efficacy of an unclean spirit in them, and their want of the knowledge of God, Ho 5:4; of open pride, which stared them in the face, and for which they fell into calamities, and Judah with them, and should not be able with all their sacrifices to find favour with God, who had withdrawn himself from them, Ho 5:5,6; also of treacherous dealing with the Lord by their spiritual adultery, and begetting strange children, Ho 5:7; next their punishment is denounced, of which notice was to be given them by the sound of the trumpet, as an alarm of war, or as calling for mourning, Ho 5:8; since Ephraim would become desolate, of which notification had been made among the tribes, Ho 5:9; and wrath would be poured out in great abundance on the princes of Judah, who were very wicked men, Ho 5:10; and Ephraim would be oppressed and broken by the judgment of God, who would be as a moth unto them, and also rottenness to Judah, because they followed the commandments of men, Ho 5:11,12; and, what was still more provoking, when they were sensible of their calamities and distresses, they sought not help from the Lord, but from men that could do them no good; and therefore he threatens to be as a devouring lion to them, Ho 5:13,14; and yet the chapter concludes with a promise of the conversion of these people, after the Lord had dealt with them in an angry manner, Ho 5:15.