Hosea 5-6

New King James Version

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

5 “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For ^[a]yours is the judgment,
Because ^(A)you have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.
²The revolters are ^(B)deeply involved in slaughter,
Though I rebuke them all.
³^(C)I know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, ^(D)you commit harlotry;
Israel is defiled.

⁴“They^[b] do not direct their deeds
Toward turning to their God,
For ^(E)the spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know the Lord.
⁵The ^(F)pride 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
^(G)They shall go to seek the Lord,
But they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
⁷They have ^(H)dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have begotten ^[c]pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

⁸“Blow^(I) the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
^(J)Cry aloud at ^(K)Beth Aven,
‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’
⁹Ephraim 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 who ^(L)remove a landmark;
I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(M)oppressed and broken in judgment,
Because he willingly walked by ^(N)human precept.
¹²Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,
And to the house of Judah ^(O)like rottenness.

¹³“When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his ^(P)wound,
Then Ephraim went ^(Q)to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.
¹⁴For ^(R)I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
^(S)I, even I, will tear them and go away;
I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
¹⁵I will return again to My place
Till they ^[d]acknowledge their offense.
Then they will seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

A Call to Repentance

6 Come,^(T) and let us return to the Lord;
For ^(U)He has torn, but ^(V)He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will ^[e]bind us up.
²^(W)After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
³^(X)Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established ^(Y)as the morning;
^(Z)He will come to us ^(AA)like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

⁴“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by ^(AB)the words of My mouth;
And ^[f]your judgments are like light that goes forth.
⁶For I desire ^(AC)mercy^[g] and ^(AD)not sacrifice,
And the ^(AE)knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷“But like ^[h]men they transgressed the covenant;
There they dealt treacherously with Me.
⁸^(AF)Gilead is a city of evildoers
And ^[i]defiled with blood.
⁹As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,
So the company of ^(AG)priests ^(AH)murder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they commit ^(AI)lewdness.
¹⁰I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:
There is the ^[j]harlotry of Ephraim;
Israel is defiled.
¹¹Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,
When I return the captives of My people.