1 “Listen to this, you priests!Pay attention, nation of Israel!Open your ears, royal family!This is my decision about you.You set traps at Mizpahand spread out nets on Mount Tabor.
2 You are deeply involved in sin.So I will punish all of you.
3 I know Ephraim,and Israel isn’t a stranger to me.Now, Ephraim, you are acting like a prostitute,and Israel is unclean.
4 “The wicked things that the people have donekeep them from returning to their God.They have a spirit of prostitution,and they don’t know the Lord.
5 The people of Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their sins,and Judah stumbles with them.
6 They go with their sheep and their cattle to search for the Lord,but they can’t find him.He has left them.
7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord,because their children do not belong to him.Now their New Moon ⌊Festivals⌋ will devour them and their fields.