5 “Hear this, you priests,
Pay attention, O house of Isra'Al,
Listen, O house of the king,
For the judgment involves you;
Because you are a trap to Mizʹpah
And a net spread over Taʹbor.
2 And those falling away have sunk deep in slaughter,
3 I know Eʹphra·im,
And Isra'Al is not hidden from me.
For now, O Eʹphra·im, you have acted promiscuously;
Isra'Al has defiled itself.
4 Their dealings do not permit them to return to their Yahavah {Yah'-ha-vah'},
Because there is a spirit of prostitution among them;
And Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} they do not acknowledge.
5 The pride of Isra'Al has testified against him;
Both Isra'Al and Eʹphra·im have stumbled in their error,
And Judah has stumbled with them.
6 With their flock and their herd they went to look for Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah},
But they could not find him.
He had drawn away from them.
7 They have betrayed Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah},
For they have fathered foreign sons.
Now a month will devour them and their portions.
8 Blow a horn in Gibʹe·ah, a trumpet in Raʹmah!
Shout a war cry at Beth-aʹven—after you, O Benjamin!
9 O Eʹphra·im, you will become an object of horror in the day of punishment.
I have made known what will surely happen among the tribes of Isra'Al.
10 The princes of Judah are like those moving a boundary.
I will pour out my fury on them like water.
11 Eʹphra·im is oppressed, crushed by judgment,
For he was determined to follow after his adversary.
12 So I was like a moth to Eʹphra·im
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Eʹphra·im saw his sickness, and Judah his ulcer,
Eʹphra·im went to As·syrʹi·a and sent to a great king.
But he was unable to heal you,
And he could not cure your ulcer.
14 For I will be like a young lion to Eʹphra·im,
And like a strong lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, and no one will rescue them.
15 I will go away and return to my place until they bear the consequences of their guilt,
And then they will seek my favor.
When they are in distress, they will seek me.”