Hosea 5

Hosea 5:1

And give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

And give ye ear, O house of the king of Israel; for judgment is toward you; because, when as my people were, according to my command, to go up to sacrifice at Jerusalem, ye procured wait to be laid for them, both at Mizpah and at mount Tabor, as a fowler would lay nets and snares for birds, to intercept them in their way and to draw them back to your own idolatrous altars.

Hosea 5:2

And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

And the revolted Israelites are profound and subtle in their plots, to draw the slaughter of the sacrifices to the place of their own choosing; though I have not forborne my vehement rebukes of them all.

Hosea 5:3

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me.

I know Ephraim, the chief of those Ten Tribes; and the rest, which make up the kingdom of Israel, are not hid from me.

Hosea 5:5

Judah also shall fall with them.

Judah also, since he would not be warned to avoid the sins of Israel, shall partake of their judgments, as well as of their iniquity.

Hosea 5:6

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; etc.

They shall go with whole flocks and herds of their sacrifices, to seek the Lord, to appease his wrath, and recover his favour; but they shall not find grace and acceptation at his hands.

Hosea 5:7

They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

They have dealt treacherously against the Lord; for they have trained up their children in heathenish idolatry: now therefore, in a very short space, shall they and their land be devoured by the enemy.

Hosea 5:8

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

Make speedy preparation therefore for the war: Blow the cornet in Gibeah, the utmost border of Judah; and blow the trumpet in Ramah, the utmost border of Israel: cry aloud at Beth-aven, that is betwixt both; and do thou, O Benjamin, consider what thou hast to do, when the enemy is at thy back.

Hosea 5:9

Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

Even that leading tribe of Ephraim shall be desolate, in the day of my vengeance: I have signified unto the tribes of Israel, what they shall surely find, how incredulous soever they may be for the present.

Hosea 5:10

The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

The princes of Judah were lawless in their carriage; as men, that resolved not to regard those bounds and limits, which my law hath set unto them in their callings; therefore, I will abundantly pour out my wrath upon them.

Hosea 5:11

Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

Ephraim is oppressed by the Assyrian, and gone to wreck; because he willingly walked after the commandment of their wicked and idolatrous governors.

Hosea 5:12

Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

Therefore will I consume Ephraim, as a moth eateth a garment; and will consume Judah, as a worm (or rottenness) consumeth wood: so will I decay them, by an insensible, yet certain judgment.

Hosea 5:13

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

When Israel saw the danger, wherein he was, he made means to the Assyrian for help; and when Ahaz, the king of Judah, was in distress, he sends to Tiglath Pileser, that should stand out for him; but all in vain: neither shall any aid of mortal man be able to cure you of those wounds, which the hand of my justice shall inflict upon you.

Hosea 5:15

I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge

their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. I will go, saith the Lord, and will withdraw myself from them: not giving them any testimony of my grace or presence, till they shall be humbled in the sense of their sins, and seek to recover my favour in their affliction: and if any means can possibly prevail with them, it must be this; in their affliction they will seek me instantly.