Hosea 5:1-7

Amplified Bible

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

5 Hear this and pay close attention, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear,
Because you have been a snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).
²
The revolters have gone deep into depravity,
But I [the Lord God] will chastise them all.
³
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;
Israel has defiled itself.
⁴
Their [immoral] practices will not permit them
To return to their God,
For the spirit of prostitution is within them
And they do not know the Lord [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].
⁵
But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.
Therefore Israel, and [especially] ^[a]Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt;
^[b]Judah also has stumbled with them.
⁶
They will go with their flocks and with their herds
To seek the Lord [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].
⁷
They have dealt treacherously against the Lord,
For they have borne illegitimate (pagan) children.
Now the ^[c]New Moon will devour them along with their land [bringing judgment and captivity].

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Footnotes

Hosea 5:5 Ephraim was the most dominant of the ten tribes in the Kingdom of Israel, and this and other economic factors led to Ephraim becoming a synonym for the entire Northern Kingdom.
Hosea 5:5 The Southern Kingdom or Kingdom of Judah consisted primarily of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. After the united kingdom divided, Judah continued to be ruled by the kings of the Davidic line. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah.
Hosea 5:7 Instead of a celebration, judgment would occur at the time of the New Moon Festival; 2:11.