God’s Judgement on Israel and Judah
1 “Listen to this, you priests!
Listen, house of Israel,
and give ear, house of the king!
For this judgment is against you,
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread over Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter,
but I will discipline all of them.
3 I know of Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me.
For now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute.
Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds will not allow them
to return to their God,
for the spirit of promiscuity is within them,
and they do not know the LORD.
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face.
Therefore Israel and Ephraim
will stumble in their iniquity.
Judah also will stumble with them.
6 They will go with their flocks and their herds
to seek the LORD,
but they will not find him.
He has withdrawn himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful to the LORD,
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them
along with their fields.
8 Blow the cornet in Gibeah,
and the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven,
behind you, Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Israel,
I have made known that which will surely be.
10 The princes of Judah
are like those who remove a landmark.
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
he is crushed in judgment,
because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
12 Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth,
and to the house of Judah like decay.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to king Jareb,
but he is not able to heal you,
nor will he cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear them to pieces and leave.
I will carry them off,
and there will be no one to deliver them.
15 I will go and return to my place,
until they acknowledge their offense
and seek my face.
In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”