5:1 Hear this, O priests, Pay attention, O house of Israel, O household of the king, give ear! It is you who are called to judgment. For you have become a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
5:2 In their perversity they have sunk into wickedness, and I am rejected by them all.
5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; Now Ephraim has played the harlot, Israel is defiled.
5:4 Their deeds do not allow them to return to their God; For the spirit of harlotry is in them, and they do not recognize the LORD.
5:5 The arrogance of Israel bears witness against him; Ephraim stumbles in his guilt, and Judah stumbles with them.
5:6 With their flocks and their herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they shall not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.
5:7 They have been untrue to the LORD, for they have begotten illegitimate children; Now shall the new moon devour them together with their fields.
5:8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Sound the alarm in Beth-aven: "Look behind you, O Benjamin!"
5:9 Ephraim shall become a waste on the day of chastisement: Against the tribes of Israel I announce what is sure to be.
5:10 The princes of Judah have become like those that move a boundary line; Upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.
5:11 Is Ephraim maltreated, his rights violated? No, he has willingly gone after filth!
5:12 I am like a moth for Ephraim, like maggots for the house of Judah.
5:13 When Ephraim saw his infirmity, and Judah his sore, Ephraim went to Assyria, and Judah sent to the great king. But he cannot heal you nor take away your sore.
5:14 For I am like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah; It is I who rend the prey and depart, I carry it away and no one can save it from me.
5:15 I will go back to my place until they pay for their guilt and seek my presence.