HOSEA 5

1 “Listen, you priests! And you other Israeli people, you also pay attention! And you who are members of the king’s family, you also need to listen, because I am going to judge you! Your worshiping idols has been like [MET] a trap for the people at Mizpah town; it has been like [MET] a net spread out to catch people at Tabor Mountain. 2 You have done many evil things, so I will punish all of you. 3 I know everything about the people of Israel; nothing that they have done is hidden from me. Because the people of Israel have given themselves to worshiping idols like [MET] prostitutes give themselves to the men they sleep with, they have become unacceptable to me. 4 Because they like to do evil things, they will not return to me, their God. Like prostitutes who have abandoned their husbands [MET], they have [IDM] abandoned [MET] me; they do not even know me, Yahweh. 5 It is as though their being proud testifies [PRS] against them. The sins that the people of Israel have committed are like a heavy load that causes them to stumble, and the people of Judah stumble with them. 6 They will come to worship me, Yahweh, bringing their herds of sheep and cattle, but they will not be able to find me, because I have abandoned them. 7 They have abandoned me; and their children do not belong to me [MET]. So they will not be able to celebrate their festivals at the new moons because I will destroy them and the crops in their fields. 8 Blow the rams’ horns in Gibeah town and blow the trumpets in Ramah town! Warn the people at Beth-Aven town; you warriors of the tribe of Benjamin, lead the troops into the battle. 9 Israel will be ruined on the day that I destroy them. What I am telling to the tribes of Israel will certainly happen. 10 Because the leaders of Judah seized some land that belonged to Israel, they are like [SIM] those who move boundary markers to get more land for themselves; so I will punish them severely [MET]. 11 And the people of Israel will suffer greatly when I punish them, because they are very determined to worship idols. 12 I will destroy the people of Israel like [SIM] ◄larvae of moths/cockroaches► destroy wool, and I will cause the people of Judah to be like [SIM] rotten wood. 13 When the leaders of Israel and Judah saw that the people were suffering because of what their enemies were doing to them [MET], they sent messages to the great King of Assyria requesting his help. But he cannot help you; he cannot cause you to stop suffering, because I am the one who is punishing Israel and Judah. 14 I will become like [SIM] a lion [DOU] to both nations; I will attack them and tear them to pieces. I will drag them away, and no one will be able to rescue them. 15 After that, I will return to my place in heaven until they admit that they have sinned [MTY] and return to me; when they will experience many troubles, they will request me to help them."