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HOSEA • CHAPTER 5
Hosea 5
Marriage imagery, covenant betrayal, judgment, divine love, political instability, repentance, and restoration.
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Hosea 5
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1
“Listen to this, you priests!
Listen, house of Israel,
and give ear, house of the king!
For the judgment is against you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah,
and a net spread on Tabor.
Listen, house of Israel,
and give ear, house of the king!
For the judgment is against you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah,
and a net spread on Tabor.
2
The rebels are deep in slaughter;
but I discipline all of them.
but I discipline all of them.
3
I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute.
Israel is defiled.
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute.
Israel is defiled.
4
Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God;
for the spirit of prostitution is within them,
and they don’t know Yahweh.
for the spirit of prostitution is within them,
and they don’t know Yahweh.
5
The pride of Israel testifies to his face.
Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity.
Judah also will stumble with them.
Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity.
Judah also will stumble with them.
6
They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh;
but they won’t find him.
He has withdrawn himself from them.
but they won’t find him.
He has withdrawn himself from them.
7
They are unfaithful to Yahweh;
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
8
“Blow the cornet in Gibeah,
and the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
and the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
9
Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.
Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.
10
The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark.
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
11
Ephraim is oppressed,
he is crushed in judgment;
Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
he is crushed in judgment;
Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
12
Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth,
and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
13
“When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to king Jareb:
but he is not able to heal you,
neither will he cure you of your wound.
and Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to king Jareb:
but he is not able to heal you,
neither will he cure you of your wound.
14
For I will be to Ephraim like a lion,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear in pieces and go away.
I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear in pieces and go away.
I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
15
I will go and return to my place,
until they acknowledge their offense,
and seek my face.
In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
until they acknowledge their offense,
and seek my face.
In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Hosea uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
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Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
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