Hosea 5-6

New American Standard Bible

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a ^(A)trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
²And the ^(B)rebels have ^(C)gone deep in ^[a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
³I ^(D)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
⁴Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a ^(E)spirit of ^[b]infidelity is within them,
And they ^(F)do not know the Lord.
⁵Moreover, the ^(G)pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
^(H)Judah also has stumbled with them.
⁶They will ^(I)go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will ^(J)not find Him;
He has ^(K)withdrawn from them.
⁷They have ^(L)dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to ^[c]^(M)illegitimate children.
Now the ^(N)new moon will devour them with their ^[d]land.

⁸^(O)Blow the horn in ^(P)Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“^(Q)Behind you, Benjamin!”
⁹Ephraim will become a ^(R)desolation in the ^(S)day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I ^(T)make known what is trustworthy.
¹⁰The leaders of Judah have become like those who ^(U)displace a boundary marker;
On them I will ^(V)pour out My anger ^(W)like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(X)oppressed, broken by judgment,
^(Y)Because he was determined to follow ^[e]man’s command.
¹²Therefore I am like a ^(Z)moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his ^[f]sore,
Ephraim then went to ^(AA)Assyria
And sent word to ^[g]^(AB)King Jareb.
But he is ^(AC)unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your ^[h]sore.
¹⁴For I will be ^(AD)like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
^(AE)I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be ^(AF)no one to rescue.
¹⁵I will go away and return to My place
Until they ^[i]^(AG)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will ^(AH)search for Me.

The Response to God’s Rebuke

6 “^(AI)Come, let’s return to the Lord.
For ^(AJ)He has torn us, but ^(AK)He will heal us;
He has ^[j]wounded us, but He will ^(AL)bandage us.
²He will ^(AM)revive us after two days;
He will ^(AN)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
³So let’s ^(AO)learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
His ^(AP)appearance is as sure as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the ^(AQ)rain,
As the spring rain waters the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, ^(AR)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, Judah?
For your loyalty is like a ^(AS)morning cloud,
And like the dew which goes away early.
⁵Therefore I have ^(AT)cut them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the ^(AU)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that ^[k]shines.
⁶For ^(AV)I ^[l]desire loyalty ^(AW)rather than sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷But ^(AX)like ^[m]Adam they have ^(AY)violated the covenant;
There they have ^(AZ)dealt treacherously with Me.
⁸^(BA)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with ^(BB)bloody footprints.
⁹And as a ^(BC)band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
So a band of priests ^(BD)murder on the way to Shechem;
Certainly they have committed an act of ^(BE)infamy.
¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a ^(BF)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s ^(BG)infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
¹¹Also, Judah, there is a ^(BH)harvest appointed for you,
When I ^(BI)restore the fortunes of My people.