Hear this and pay close attention, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear,
Because you have been a snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;
Israel has defiled itself.
Their [immoral] practices will not permit them
To return to their God,
For the spirit of prostitution is within them
And they do not know the LORD [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].
They will go with their flocks and with their herds
To seek the LORD [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah [the lofty hills on Benjamin’s northern border].
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you and coming after you [is the enemy], O Benjamin [be on guard]!”
Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria [instead of the LORD]
And sent to [Assyria’s] great King Jareb [for help].
But he cannot heal you
Nor will he cure you of your wound [received in judgment].
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go on [tearing];
I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.
Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by
The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631 All rights reserved.
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