Israel and Judah Will Be Judged
The Lord said:
1 Listen, you priests!
Pay attention, Israel!
Listen, you members
of the royal family.
Justice was your duty.
But at Mizpah and Mount Tabor
you trapped the people.
2 At the place of worship
you were a treacherous pit,
and I will punish you.
3 Israel, I know all about you,
and because of your unfaithfulness,
I find you unacceptable.
4 Your evil deeds are the reason
you won't return to me,
your Lord God.
And your constant craving for sex
keeps you from knowing me.
5 Israel, your pride
testifies to your guilt;
it makes you stumble,
and Judah stumbles too.
6 You offer sheep and cattle
as sacrifices to me,
but I have turned away
and refuse to be found.
7 You have been unfaithful
to me, your Lord;
you have had children
by prostitutes.
So at the New Moon Festival,
you and your crops
will be destroyed.
The Lord Warns Israel and Judah
8 Give a warning on the trumpet!
Let it be heard in Gibeah,
Ramah, and sinful Bethel.
Benjamin, watch out!
9 I, the Lord, will punish
and wipe out Israel.
This is my solemn promise
to every tribe of Israel.
10 Judah's leaders are like crooks
who move boundary markers;
that's why I will flood them
with my anger.
11 Israel was brutally crushed.
They got what they deserved
for worshiping useless idols.
12 Now I, the Lord,
will fill Israel with maggots
and make Judah rot.
13 When Israel and Judah saw
their sickness and wounds,
Israel asked help from Assyria
and its mighty king.
But the king cannot cure them
or heal their wounds.
14 So I'll become a fierce lion
attacking Israel and Judah.
I'll snatch and carry off
what I want,
and no one can stop me.
15 Then I'll return to my temple
until they confess their guilt
and worship me,
until they are desperate
and beg for my help.
1 “Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, people of Israel! Listen, you that belong to the royal family! You are supposed to judge with justice—so judgment will fall on you! You have become a trap at Mizpah, a net spread on Mount Tabor, 2 a deep pit at Acacia City, and I will punish all of you. 3 I know what Israel is like—she cannot hide from me. She has been unfaithful, and her people are unfit to worship me.”
Hosea Warns against Idolatry
4 The evil that the people have done keeps them from returning to their God. Idolatry has a powerful hold on them, and they do not acknowledge the Lord. 5 The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. Their sins make them stumble and fall, and the people of Judah fall with them. 6 They take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord, but it does them no good. They cannot find him, for he has left them. 7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord; their children do not belong to him. So now they and their lands will soon be destroyed.
War between Judah and Israel
8 Blow the war trumpets in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the war cry at Bethaven! Into battle, men of Benjamin! 9 The day of punishment is coming, and Israel will be ruined. People of Israel, this will surely happen!
10 The Lord says, “I am angry because the leaders of Judah have invaded Israel and stolen land from her. So I will pour out punishment on them like a flood. 11 Israel is suffering oppression; she has lost land that was rightfully hers, because she insisted on going for help to those who had none to give. 12 I will bring destruction on Israel and ruin on the people of Judah.
13 “When Israel saw how sick she was and when Judah saw her own wounds, then Israel went to Assyria to ask the great emperor for help, but he could not cure them or heal their wounds. 14 I will attack the people of Israel and Judah like a lion. I myself will tear them to pieces and then leave them. When I drag them off, no one will be able to save them.
15 “I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me.”