Hosea 5

The Punishment for Israel’s Apostasy
1	Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
2	And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.
3	¶ I know E’phra-im, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O E’phra-im, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
4	They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.
5	¶ And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and E’phra-im fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
6	They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7	They have dealt treacherously against the LORD; for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
8	¶ Blow ye the cornet in Gib’e-ah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–a’ven, after thee, O Benjamin.
9	E’phra-im shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
10	The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11	E’phra-im is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
12	Therefore will I be unto E’phra-im as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13	¶ When E’phra-im saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went E’phra-im to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: 7 yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14	For I will be unto E’phra-im as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
The Insincerity of Israel’s Repentance
15	¶ I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Note 7. Or, to the king that should plead. [ back ]

Published by The American Bible Society

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