Hosea 5; Hosea 6; Hosea 7; Hosea 8

1 "Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, nation of Israel! Open your ears, royal family! This is my decision about you. You set traps at Mizpah and spread out nets on Mount Tabor.

2 You are deeply involved in sin. So I will punish all of you.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel isn't a stranger to me. Now, Ephraim, you are acting like a prostitute, and Israel is unclean.

4 "The wicked things that the people have done keep them from returning to their God. They have a spirit of prostitution, and they don't know the LORD.

5 The people of Israel's arrogance testifies against them. Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their sins, and Judah stumbles with them.

6 They go with their sheep and their cattle to search for the LORD, but they can't find him. He has left them.

7 They have been unfaithful to the LORD, because their children do not belong to him. Now their New Moon [Festivals] will devour them and their fields.

8 "Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah. Blow the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth Aven, you descendants of Benjamin.

9 Ephraim will become a wasteland when the time for punishment comes. I will make the truth known among the tribes of Israel.

10 The leaders of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour my fury on them like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed--crushed by punishment, because its people are determined to chase idols.

12 I will destroy Ephraim as a moth destroys clothing. I will destroy the nation of Judah as rot destroys wood.

13 "When Ephraim saw that he was sick and when Judah saw his own wounds, Ephraim went to Assyria to ask the great king for help. But the king couldn't cure them or heal their wounds.

14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the nation of Judah. I will carry [them] off, and no one will rescue [them].

15 I will go back to my place until they admit that they are guilty. Then they will search for me. In their distress they will eagerly look for me."

1 Let's return to the LORD. Even though he has torn us to pieces, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bandage our wounds.

2 After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us so that we may live in his presence.

3 Let's learn about the LORD. Let's get to know the LORD. He will come to us as sure as the morning comes. He will come to us like the autumn rains and the spring rains that water the ground.

4 "What should I do with you, Ephraim? What should I do with you, Judah? Your love is like fog in the morning. It disappears as quickly as the morning dew.

5 That is why I cut [you] down by sending the prophets. I killed you with the words from my mouth. My judgments shined on you like light.

6 I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.

7 "Like Adam, you rejected the promise. You were unfaithful to me.

8 Gilead is a city filled with troublemakers. It is stained with bloody footprints.

9 The priests are like gangs of robbers who lie in ambush for a person. They murder on the road to Shechem. Certainly, they have committed a crime.

10 "I have seen horrible things in the nation of Israel. Ephraim is acting like a prostitute, and Israel is unclean.

11 "Yet, Judah, I have set a harvest time for you when I bring my people back from captivity.

1 "Whenever I want to heal Israel, all I can see is Ephraim's sin and Samaria's wickedness. People cheat each other. They break into houses and steal. They rob people in the streets.

2 They don't realize that I remember all the evil things they've done. Now their sins surround them. Their sins are in my presence.

3 "They make kings happy with the wicked things they do. They make officials happy with the lies they tell.

4 They all commit adultery. They are like a heated oven, an oven so hot that a baker doesn't have to fan its flames when he makes bread.

5 On the day of the king's celebration, the officials become drunk from wine, and the king joins mockers.

6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush. All night long their anger smolders, but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.

7 They are all as hot as an oven. They consume their judges [like a fire]. All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.

8 "Ephraim mixes with other nations. Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.

9 Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don't realize it. You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don't realize it.

10 Israel, your arrogance testifies against you, but even after all this, you don't turn to the LORD your God or look to him for help.

11 Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove. You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.

12 When you go, I will spread my net over you. I will snatch you out of the air like a bird. I will punish you for all the evil things you have done.

13 "How horrible it will be for these people. They have run away from me. They must be destroyed because they've rebelled against me. I want to reclaim them, but they tell lies about me.

14 They don't pray to me sincerely, even though they cry in their beds and make cuts on their bodies while praying for grain and new wine. They have turned against me.

15 I trained them and made them strong. Yet, they plan evil against me.

16 They don't return to the Most High. They are like a defective bow. Their officials will die in battle because they curse. The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.

1 "Sound the alarm on the ram's horn. The enemy swoops down on the LORD's temple like an eagle. The people of Israel have rejected my promise and rebelled against my teachings.

2 They cry out to me, 'We acknowledge you as our God.'

3 However, they have rejected what is good. The enemy will persecute them.

4 "They chose their own kings, kings I didn't approve. They chose their own princes, princes I didn't know. They chose to make idols with their own silver and gold. Because of this, they will be destroyed.

5 Get rid of your calf-shaped idol, Samaria. My anger burns against these people. How long will they remain unclean?

6 Samaria's calf-shaped idol was made in Israel. Skilled workers made it. It is not a god. It will be smashed to pieces.

7 "The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm. A field of grain that doesn't ripen will never produce any grain. Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.

8 Israel will be swallowed up. It has already mixed in with the other nations. It has become worthless.

9 "The people of Israel went to Assyria. They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone. The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.

10 Even though they sold themselves among the nations, I will gather them now. They will suffer for a while under the burdens of kings and princes.

11 "The more altars that the people of Ephraim build to make offerings to pay for their sins, the more places they have for sinning.

12 I have written many things for them in my teachings, but they consider these things strange and foreign.

13 They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of sacrifices, but I, the LORD, do not accept these sacrifices. Now I will remember their wickedness and punish them because of their sins. They will go back to Egypt.

14 The people of Israel have built palaces, and they have forgotten their maker. The people of Judah have built many fortified cities. I will send a fire on their cities and burn down their palaces."