| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen closely, O king! For judgment is about to overtake you! For you were like a trap to Mizpah, like a net spread out to catch Tabor. | 1“Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor. |
| 2Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, but I will discipline them all. | 2You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done. |
| 3I know Ephraim all too well; the evil of Israel is not hidden from me. For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim; Israel has defiled itself. | 3I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled. |
| 4Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God; because a spirit of idolatry controls their heart, and they do not acknowledge the LORD. | 4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the LORD. |
| 5The arrogance of Israel testifies against it; Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown because of their iniquity. Even Judah will be brought down with them. | 5“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them. |
| 6Although they bring their flocks and herds to seek the favor of the LORD, They will not find him--he has withdrawn himself from them! | 6When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the LORD, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them. |
| 7They have committed treason against the LORD, because they bore illegitimate children. Soon the new moon festival will devour them and their fields. | 7They have betrayed the honor of the LORD, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth. |
| 8Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah! Sound the trumpet in Ramah! Sound the alarm in Beth Aven! Tremble in fear, O Benjamin! | 8“Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven ! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin! |
| 9Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment! What I am declaring to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place! | 9One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble. |
| 10The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood! | 10“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall. |
| 11Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed under judgment, because he was determined to pursue worthless idols. | 11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols. |
| 12I will be like a moth to Ephraim, like wood rot to the house of Judah. | 12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood. |
| 13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and begged its great king for help. But he will not be able to heal you! He cannot cure your wound! | 13“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria— to the great king there— but he could neither help nor cure them. |
| 14I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear them to pieces, then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them! | 14I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them. |
| 15Then I will return again to my lair until they have suffered their punishment. Then they will seek me; in their distress they will earnestly seek me. | 15Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.” |
|
    |