1Hear this, O priests, and listen, house of Israel. And give ear, house of the king. For judgment is toward you, because you have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.
2And revolters have gone deep in slaughtering, and I chasten all of them.
3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you have fornicated; Israel is defiled.
4Their doings will not allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of fornication is in their midst, and they have not known the LORD.
5And the pride of Israel testifies to his face. So Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them.
7They have acted treacherously against the LORD, for they have brought out strange sons. Now a new moon shall devour them with their portions.
8Blow the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah; cry aloud at Beth-aven, after you, O Benjamin.
9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known that which is confirmed.
10The rulers of Judah were like movers of a border; I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
11Ephraim is crushed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
12Therefore I am as a moth to Ephraim, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to king Jareb. Yet he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound.
14For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a strong lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
15I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me diligently.
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 5
The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the foregoing chapter, to discover the sin both of Israel and Judah, and to denounce the judgments of God against them. I. They are called to hearken to the charge, ver. 1, 8. II. They are accused of many sins, which are here aggravated. 1. Persecution, ver. 1, 2. 2.…
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