Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah
1 “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For yoursisthe judgment,
# Becauseyou have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.
2 The revolters aredeeply involved in slaughter,
Though I rebuke them all.
3 I know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from Me;
# For now, O Ephraim,you commit harlotry;
Israel is defiled.
4 “They do not direct their deeds
Toward turning to their God,
# Forthe spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know theLord.
5 Thepride of Israel testifies to his face;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them.
6 “With their flocks and herds
# They shall go to seek theLord,
But they will not findHim;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
7 They havedealt treacherously with theLord,
For they have begotten pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
8 “Blowthe ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
# Cry aloudatBeth Aven,
‘Lookbehind you, O Benjamin!’
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.
10 “The princes of Judah are like those whoremove a landmark;
I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
11 Ephraim isoppressedandbroken in judgment,
# Because he willingly walked byhumanprecept.
12 Therefore Iwillbeto Ephraim like a moth,
# And to the house of Judahlike rottenness.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
# And Judahsawhiswound,
# Then Ephraim wentto Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.
14 ForIwillbelike a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
# I,evenI, will tearthemand go away;
I will takethemaway, and no one shall rescue.
15 I will return again to My place
Till they acknowledge their offense.
Then they will seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”