Hosea 5
New Living Translation
The Failure of Israel’s Leaders
5 “Hear this, you priests.
Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.
Listen, you members of the royal family.
Judgment has been handed down against you.
For you have led the people into a snare
by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.
2 You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove.[a]
But I will settle with you for what you have done.
3 I know what you are like, O Ephraim.
You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel.
You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband;
you are utterly defiled.
4 Your deeds won’t let you return to your God.
You are a prostitute through and through,
and you do not know the Lord.
5 “The arrogance of Israel testifies against her;
Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt.
Judah, too, will fall with them.
6 When they come with their flocks and herds
to offer sacrifices to the Lord,
they will not find him,
because he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have betrayed the honor of the Lord,
bearing children that are not his.
Now their false religion will devour them
along with their wealth.[b]
8 “Sound the alarm in Gibeah!
Blow the trumpet in Ramah!
Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven[c]!
Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!
9 One thing is certain, Israel[d]:
On your day of punishment,
you will become a heap of rubble.
10 “The leaders of Judah have become like thieves.[e]
So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.
11 The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment
because they are determined to worship idols.[f]
12 I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool.
I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.
13 “When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were,
Israel turned to Assyria—
to the great king there—
but he could neither help nor cure them.
14 I will be like a lion to Israel,
like a strong young lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces!
I will carry them off,
and no one will be left to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and turn to me.
For as soon as trouble comes,
they will earnestly search for me.”
Footnotes
- 5:2 Hebrew at Shittim. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- 5:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 5:8 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
- 5:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 5:11, 12, 13, 14.
- 5:10 Hebrew like those who move a boundary marker.
- 5:11 Or determined to follow human commands. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Hosea 5
International Standard Version
Judgment against Israel
5 “Hear this, priests,
pay attention, house of Israel,
listen, royal family!
For judgment is coming your way,[a]
because you have been a trap to Mizpah,
a snare spread out on Mount[b] Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep into their slaughter;
I am punishing them all.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel cannot hide from me,
since you, Ephraim, have been acting like a prostitute,
defiling Israel.
4 “Their actions hinder them from turning to their God,
because a spirit of fornication is in their midst,
and the Lord they do not know.
5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him;
therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity,
and Judah with them.
6 They will go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord,
having raised unbelieving children.
In the coming month they will be devoured,
along with their fields.[c]
8 “Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
and the alarm in Ramah.
Cry out at Beth-aven
Go out,[d] Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will be desolate
when it is rebuked.
I have made known among the tribes of Israel
what will surely come about.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like those who move boundary markers:
I will pour out my anger on them like water.
11 Ephraim is crushed,
broken by judgment,
because he[e] willingly pursued idols.[f]
12 Therefore I will consume[g] Ephraim like a moth,
and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.
13 When Ephraim examined his illness
and Judah his injury,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and inquired of the great king;
but he could not cure you
nor heal your injury.
14 Therefore I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I—even I—will tear them[h] to pieces,
and then I will leave.
I will take them[i] away,
and there will be no rescue.
15 “I will leave and go back to my place
until they admit their offense
and seek my face.
When affliction comes to them,
they will eagerly seek me.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:1 Lit. is toward you
- Hosea 5:1 The Heb. lacks Mount
- Hosea 5:7 Or inheritance
- Hosea 5:8 So LXX; MT After you
- Hosea 5:11 I.e. Ephraim as an individual personifying the northern kingdom of Israel.
- Hosea 5:11 So LXX; MT reads willingly went away from the command
- Hosea 5:12 The Heb. lacks will consume
- Hosea 5:14 The Heb. lacks them
- Hosea 5:14 The Heb. lacks them
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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