1Hear this, priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread out on Tabor.
2Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter;
I will be a punishment for all of them.
3I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me.
For now, Ephraim,
you have acted promiscuously;
Israel is defiled.
4Their actions do not allow them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,
and they do not know the Lord.
5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their iniquity;
even Judah will stumble with them.
6They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord
but do not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
7They betrayed the Lord;
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their fields.
8Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah;
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:
Look behind you, Benjamin!
9Ephraim will become a desolation
on the day of punishment;
I announce what is certain
among the tribes of Israel.
10The princes of Judah are like those
who move boundary markers;
I will pour out my fury on them like water.
11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
for he is determined to follow what is worthless.
12So I am like rot to Ephraim
and like decay to the house of Judah.
13When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent a delegation to the great king.
But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
14For I am like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.
I will carry them off,
and no one can rescue them.
15I will depart and return to my place
until they recognize their guilt and seek my face;
they will search for me in their distress.