5
1 Hear ye this, O ye priests, And hearken, O house of Israel, And give ear, O house of the king! For judgment is coming upon you, Because ye have been a snare at Mizpah, And an outspread net upon Tabor. 2 By their sacrifices they commit deep transgression, And I will bring chastisement upon them all. 3 I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from me; For thou committest fornication, O Ephraim, And Israel is defiled. 4 They will not frame their doings To return to their God; For a spirit of fornication is within them, And they have no regard to Jehovah. 5 The pride of Israel testifieth to his face; Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. 6 With their flocks and with their herds shall they go to seek Jehovah, And shall not find him; He hath withdrawn himself from them. 7 They have been false to Jehovah, For they have begotten strange children; Now shall the new moon consume them with their possessions. 8 Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, And the cornet in Ramah; Cry aloud at Bethaven! Look behind thee, O Benjamin! 9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel do I make known what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah are like them that remove the land mark; I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed; he is crushed with punishment, Because he willingly walked after the decree. 12 I am as a moth to Ephraim, And as rottenness to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, And Judah sent to the hostile king; But he will not be able to heal you, Nor will he cure you of your wound. 14 For I will be as a lion to Ephraim, And as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear, and will depart; I will take away, and none shall rescue. 15 I will go back to my place, Till they have suffered for their sin, and seek my face! In their affliction they will seek me early.