1 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment applies to you: For you were a snare at Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.
2 Rebels were deep in slaughter, so I am a chastisement for them all.
3 I myself have known Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, Ephraim, you are a prostitute— Israel is defiled!
4 They will not give up their evil deeds to return to their God. For a spirit of prostitution is in them, and Adonai they have not known.
5 The Pride of Israel will answer to his face: Israel and Ephraim will stagger in their iniquity, Judah also will stumble with them.
6 With their flocks and with their herds they will go to seek Adonai, but they will not find Him— He has withdrawn from them.
7 They have betrayed Adonai, for they have begotten foreign children. Now the New Moon will devour them, with their portions.
8 Blow a shofar in Gibeah, a trumpet in Ramah! Sound an alarm at Beth-aven: “Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I made known what is certain.
10 The princes of Judah were like those who move a boundary mark. I pour out My fury on them like water.
11 Oppressed is Ephraim, crushed by judgment, for he willingly followed a worthless thing.
12 So, I will be like a moth to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent envoys to a warring king. But he cannot heal you nor will he cure your wound.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will carry off, and nobody will rescue.
15 I will go and return to My place until they admit their guilt. Then they will seek My face. In their distress they will seek Me earnestly: