1Hear this , O ye priests , and hearken , O house of Israel , and give ear , O house of the king ; for unto you pertaineth the judgment ; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah , and a net spread upon Tabor . 2And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter ; but I am a rebuker of them all .
The Consequences of Sin
3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me ; for now , O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot , Israel is defiled . 4Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God ; for the spirit of whoredom is within them , and they know not Jehovah . 5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face : therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity ; Judah also shall stumble with them .
The Inability to Seek God
6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah ; but they shall not find him : he hath withdrawn himself from them . 7They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah ; for they have borne strange children : now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.
God's Judgment and Mercy
8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah , and the trumpet in Ramah : sound an alarm at Beth-aven ; behind thee, O Benjamin . 9Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke : among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be . 10The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark : I will pour out my wrath upon them like water . 11Ephraim is oppressed , he is crushed in judgment ; because he was content to walk after man’s command . 12Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth , and to the house of Judah as rottenness . 13When Ephraim saw his sickness , and Judah saw his wound , then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb : but he is not able to heal you , neither will he cure you of your wound . 14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion , and as a young lion to the house of Judah : I , even I , will tear and go away ; I will carry off , and there shall be none to deliver . 15I will go and return to my place , till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face : in their affliction they will seek me earnestly .