1. "Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgement is
against you: you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
2. The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3. I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to
prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4. "Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the LORD.
5. Israels arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah
also stumbles with them.
6. When they go with their flocks and heards to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has
withdrawn himself from them.
7. They are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children. Now their New Moon
festivals will devour them and their fields.
8. "Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah, Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, O
benjamin.
9. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what
is certain.
10. Judahs leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour our my wrath on them like
a flood of water.
11. Ephraim is opperessed, trampled in judgement, intent on pursuing idols.
12. I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.
13. "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent
to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.
14. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah, I will tear them to pieces and go
away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15. Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their
misery they will earnestly seek me."
