Hosea 5

‘The priests, the leaders_of_Israel,

the king and his family,

everyone must listen and know

why the Lord wants to punish them.

They have made the people sin in many places:

in the town of Mizpah, and on Mount Tabor.

₂They have killed too many people,

and the Lord will punish them all.

₃The Lord knows

what the Israelites have done.

They have been unfaithful

and they have made themselves impure.

₄They have done too many wrong things

and these things are stopping them

from coming back to their God.

They want to serve other gods,

and they don't want to be near the Lord.

₅The Israelites think they are very important,

but the Lord will punish them

for what they have done.

The Lord will humiliate them

for the wrong they have done.

He will also humiliate the people of Judah.

₆They will bring sheep and goats and cattle

to sacrifice them and

they will ask the Lord what to do.

But the Lord will not answer them

because He has left them

and has gone away from them.

₇They were unfaithful to the Lord.

They had sex with temple-prostitutes

and they had children with them.

That is how they celebrated

the New-moon-feast

and that is why they will die

and why the enemies will take their land.’

‘You must warn the people.

Blow the trumpet in the towns in Gibeah,

blow the ram's-horn in Ramah

and shout in the sinful town of Beth-Aven (Bethel).

The enemies are coming.

They are near the land of Benjamin.

₉They will destroy the land of Ephraim

on the day when the Lord will punish them.

This is what I say to the tribes_of_Israel,

and this is what will happen.

₁₀The officials of Judah

want to take the land of the Israelites,

and that is why I will punish them a lot.

₁₁The enemies made

the people of Ephraim suffer,

and that is because they have served_idols

that can not help them.

₁₂I have made the people of Ephraim

and Judah sick and weak.

₁₃When they saw they were sick,

the people of Ephraim asked

the great king of Assyria to help them.

But he could not help them or heal them.

₁₄I have punished

the people of Ephraim and Judah.

I have torn them into pieces

like a lion that kills people

and carries them away,

and there was no person who could help them.

₁₅Now I will wait for them to come to my temple.

They must say they are sorry

for the sins they have done.

They must confess that they are guilty

and ask Me what I want them to do.

Maybe if they have a lot of trouble

they will come to Me and ask Me to help.’