Hosea 5:1-15

Hear this, priests!  Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah  and a net spread out on Tabor. Rebels  are deeply involved in slaughter;  I will be a punishment for all of them.  I know Ephraim,  and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, Ephraim,  you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled. Their actions do not allow them to return to their God,  for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,  and they do not know the  LORD.  Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.  , Both Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their iniquity;  even Judah will stumble with them.  They go with their flocks and herds to seek the  LORD   but do not find him;  he has withdrawn from them.  They betrayed the  LORD;  indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.  Now the New Moon  will devour them along with their fields.  Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,  the trumpet in Ramah;  raise the war cry in Beth-aven:  Look behind you,  Benjamin!  Ephraim will become a desolation  on the day of punishment;  I announce what is certain among the tribes of Israel.  The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers;  I will pour out my fury  on them like water.  Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,  for he is determined to follow what is worthless.  So I am like rot to Ephraim  and like decay to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria  and sent a delegation to the great king.  , But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.  For I am like a lion to Ephraim  and like a young lion to the house of Judah. Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.  I will carry them off, and no one can rescue them.  I will depart and return to my place until they recognize their guilt and seek my face;  they will search for me in their distress.