1Hear this, priests,

Pay attention, house of Israel,

Household of the king, give ear!a

For you are responsible for judgment.*

But you have been a snare at Mizpah,*

a net spread upon Tabor,

2a pit dug deep in Shittim.

Now I will discipline them all.

3I know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me:

Now, Ephraim, you have practiced prostitution,

Israel is defiled.

4Their deeds do not allow them

to return to their God;b

For the spirit of prostitution is in them,

and they do not know the Lord.

5The arrogance of Israel bears witness against him;

Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their iniquity,

and Judah stumbles with them.

6With their flocks and herds they will go

to seek the Lord, but will not find him;c

he has withdrawn from them.

7They have betrayed the Lord,

for they have borne illegitimate children;

Now the new moon* will devour them

together with their fields.

8Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,

the trumpet in Ramah!

Sound the alarm in Beth-aven:d

“Look behind you, Benjamin!”*

9Ephraim shall become a wasteland

on the day of punishment:

Among the tribes of Israel

I announce what is sure to be.

10The princes of Judah have become

like those who move a boundary line;* e

Upon them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by judgment,

for he has willingly gone after filth!*

12I am like a moth for Ephraim,f

like rot for the house of Judah.

13When Ephraim saw his infirmity,

and Judah his sore,

Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to the great king.* g

But he cannot heal you,

nor take away your sore.

14For I am like a lion to Ephraim,

like a young lion to the house of Judah;h

It is I who tear the prey and depart,

I carry it away and no one can save it.i

15I will go back to my place

until they make reparation

and seek my presence.

In their affliction, they shall look for me.j