1 Hear this, O ye priests; and listen well, O ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for the punishment threateneth you; because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread out upon Thabor.
2 And for murdering they who had rebelled against God concealed themselves in deep places; but I will inflict correction on them all.
3 I well know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, hast thou played the harlot, and Israel is defiled.
4 Their doings will not permit them to return unto their God; for the spirit of lewdness is in their bosom, and the Lord they have not known.
5 Therefore shall the pride of Israel be humbled before his face: and Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them.
6 With their flocks and with their herds will they go to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7 Against the Lord have they dealt treacherously; for strange children have they begotten: now shall one month devour them together with their possessions.
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibah, the trumpet in Ramah: blow the alarm at Bethaven, The enemy is after thee, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be made desolate on the day of chastisement: among the tribes of Israel had I made known that which is true.
10 The princes of Judah were like those that remove the landmark: my wrath, therefore, will I pour out upon them like water.
11 Oppressed is Ephraim, broken through punishment; because he willingly walked after the commandment of false prophets.
12 But like the moth became I unto Ephraim, and like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 Then saw Ephraim his sickness, and Judah his wound, and Ephraim went to Asshur, and the other sent to the king that should contend Jareb; but he will never be able to heal you, nor remove from you your wound.
14 For I am as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I myself will tear in pieces and go away; I will bear away, and none shall deliver.
15 I will go from here, and return to my place, till they acknowledge their guilt, and seek my presence: in their affliction will they seek for me.