Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, ye house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king, for unto you pertain the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all.
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou hast committed whoredom, Israel is defiled.
Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the LORD.
And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them.
They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.
They have dealt treacherously against the LORD; for they have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin.
Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after the command.
Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.
For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.
Canonical academic citations for Hosea 5 (ERV) — copy in your preferred format.
Hosea 5 (ERV). Prime Bible, accessed July 26, 2026. https://primebible.com/erv/hosea/5.
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Priests, royals and people are a snare; Ephraim’s pride keeps them from turning, so God will tear like a lion and withdraw until they acknowledge their guilt (Assyria will not heal them).
Marriage metaphor portrays Israel's unfaithfulness and God's persistent love.
Hosea 5 is presented with the full Hebrew interlinear, Strong's numbers, and verse-by-verse cross-references on Prime Bible — a free, nonprofit Bible study platform.