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Announcement of Sin and Judgment

Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites![a]
Listen closely,[b] O king![c]
For judgment is about to overtake you.[d]
For you were like a trap[e] to Mizpah,[f]
like a net[g] spread out to catch Tabor.[h]
Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter,[i]
but I will discipline them all.[j]
I know Ephraim all too well;[k]
the evil of[l] Israel is not hidden from me.
For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;
Israel has defiled itself.[m]
Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;
for a spirit of idolatry[n] is in them,
and they do not acknowledge the Lord.
The arrogance of Israel testifies against it;
Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown[o] because[p] of their iniquity.
Even Judah will be brought down[q] with them.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); cf. NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”
  2. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “Use the ear”; cf. ASV “give ear.”
  3. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); cf. NIV “O royal house.”
  4. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you” (cf. NIV “This judgment is against you”).
  5. Hosea 5:1 sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, often in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively of (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).
  6. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”
  7. Hosea 5:1 sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) figuratively to describe the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).
  8. Hosea 5:1 tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”
  9. Hosea 5:2 tc The MT reads וְשַׁחֲטָה שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ (veshakhatah setim heʿmiqu), “and rebels have made deep the slaughter.” The BHS editors propose וְשַׁחַת הַשִּׁטִּים הֶעְמִיקוּ (veshakhat hashittim heʿmiqu), “they have made the pit of Shittim [place of idolatry] deep” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT; see BDB 1006 s.v. שַׁחֲטָה). This involves: (1) phonological confusion between the similar sounding consonants ת (tav) and ט (tet), (2) redivision of words to take ה (hey) as the article with הַשִּׁטִּים rather than as a feminine noun ending of וְשַׁחֲטָה, and (3) revocalization of הַשִּׁטִּים with the two dagesh forte’s. Retaining the reading of the MT is preferable here.tn Heb “and those who revolt have gone deep into slaughter” (similar KJV, NIV); cf. NASB “deep in depravity.”
  10. Hosea 5:2 tn Heb “but I am discipline to all of them”; cf. ASV “but I am a rebuker of them all.”
  11. Hosea 5:3 tn The phrase “all too well” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
  12. Hosea 5:3 tn The phrase “the evil of” does not appear in the Hebrew text here but is implied by the metonymical (cause-effect) use of the term “Israel.” It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NCV “what they have done is not hidden from me.”
  13. Hosea 5:3 tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; cf. NCV “has made itself unclean,” and TEV “are unfit to worship me.”
  14. Hosea 5:4 tn Heb “a spirit of harlotries”; cf. NIV “a spirit of prostitution,” and TEV “Idolatry has a powerful hold on them.” However, CEV takes this literally: “your constant craving for sex keeps you from knowing me.”
  15. Hosea 5:5 tn Heb “will stumble” (so NCV, NLT). The verb כָּשַׁל (kashal, “to stumble; to stagger; to totter”) is used figuratively to describe distress (Isa 59:10; Ps 107:12), the debilitating effects of misfortune and calamity (Isa 5:27), and toil in exile (Lam 5:13). It is often used figuratively to describe the overthrow of a people or nation through divine judgment (Isa 8:15; Jer 6:21; 50:32; Hos 4:5; 5:5; 14:2). The Niphal stem used here is also frequently used in reference to divine judgment: “be overthrown,” of nations and armies (Jer 6:15; 8:12; Dan 11:19, 33, 34, 41; BDB 505 s.v. כָּשַׁל 1.b). This figurative use of כָּשַׁל is often used in collocation with נָפַל (nafal, “to fall”; Isa 3:8; 31:3; 8:15; Jer 6:15; Dan 11:19).
  16. Hosea 5:5 tn Or “in” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  17. Hosea 5:5 tn Heb “will stumble” (so NCV). The term כָּשַׁל (kashal) appeared in the preceding line (Niphal “be overthrown”) and now appears here (Qal “will stumble”). The repetition of כָּשַׁל emphasizes that a similar fate will befall Judah because it failed to learn its lesson from God’s judgment on Israel. The verb כָּשַׁל (“to stumble”) does not describe the moral stumbling of Judah but the effect of God’s judgment (Isa 8:15; Jer 6:21; 50:32; Hos 4:5; 5:5; 14:2) and the toil of exile (Lam 5:13).

“Listen to this, you priests!

    Listen, house of Israel,
    and give ear, house of the king!
For the judgment is against you;
    for you have been a snare at Mizpah,
    and a net spread on Tabor.
The rebels are deep in slaughter;
    but I discipline all of them.
I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute.
    Israel is defiled.
Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God;
    for the spirit of prostitution is within them,
    and they don’t know Yahweh.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face.
    Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity.
    Judah also will stumble with them.

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