HOSEA 5
1
“Listen, you priests! And you other Israeli people, you also pay attention! And you who are members of the king’s family, you also need to listen, because I am going to judge you! Your worshiping idols has been like [MET] a trap for the people at Mizpah town; it has been like [MET] a net spread out to catch people at Tabor Mountain.
2
You have done many evil things, so I will punish all of you.
3
I know everything about the people of Israel; nothing that they have done is hidden from me. Because the people of Israel have given themselves to worshiping idols like [MET] prostitutes give themselves to the men they sleep with, they have become unacceptable to me.
4
Because they like to do evil things, they will not return to me, their God. Like prostitutes who have abandoned their husbands [MET], they have [IDM] abandoned [MET] me; they do not even know me, Yahweh.
5
It is as though their being proud testifies [PRS] against them. The sins that the people of Israel have committed are like a heavy load that causes them to stumble, and the people of Judah stumble with them.
6
They will come to worship me, Yahweh, bringing their herds of sheep and cattle, but they will not be able to find me, because I have abandoned them.
7
They have abandoned me; and their children do not belong to me [MET]. So they will not be able to celebrate their festivals at the new moons because I will destroy them and the crops in their fields.
8
Blow the rams’ horns in Gibeah town and blow the trumpets in Ramah town! Warn the people at Beth-Aven town; you warriors of the tribe of Benjamin, lead the troops into the battle.
9
Israel will be ruined on the day that I destroy them. What I am telling to the tribes of Israel will certainly happen.
10
Because the leaders of Judah seized some land that belonged to Israel, they are like [SIM] those who move boundary markers to get more land for themselves; so I will punish them severely [MET].
11
And the people of Israel will suffer greatly when I punish them, because they are very determined to worship idols.
12
I will destroy the people of Israel like [SIM] ◄larvae of moths/cockroaches► destroy wool, and I will cause the people of Judah to be like [SIM] rotten wood.
13
When the leaders of Israel and Judah saw that the people were suffering because of what their enemies were doing to them [MET], they sent messages to the great King of Assyria requesting his help. But he cannot help you; he cannot cause you to stop suffering, because I am the one who is punishing Israel and Judah.
14
I will become like [SIM] a lion [DOU] to both nations; I will attack them and tear them to pieces. I will drag them away, and no one will be able to rescue them.
15
After that, I will return to my place in heaven until they admit that they have sinned [MTY] and return to me; when they will experience many troubles, they will request me to help them.”