5
1 Hear ye this, O kohanim;
and pay heed, ye Bais Yisroel;
and give ye ear, O Bais HaMelech;
for hamishpat (the judgment) is against you,
because ye have been a pach (snare, bird trap) at Mitzpah,
and a reshet (net) spread upon Tavor.
2 And the revolters have deepened their slaughter,
and I will be musar (punishment)* of them all.
3 I know Ephrayim,
and Yisroel is not hid from Me;
for now, O Ephrayim, thou committest whoredom,
and Yisroel is tameh (unclean, defiled).
4 Their doings do not permit them to turn unto Eloheihem;
for the ruach zenunim is in the midst of them,
and they have not known Hashem.
5 And the ga'on Yisroel (pride of Yisroel) doth testify to his face;
therefore shall Yisroel and Ephrayim stumble and fall in their avon (iniquity);
Yehudah also shall fall with them.
6 They shall go with their flocks
and with their herds to seek Hashem;
but they shall not find Him;
He hath withdrawn Himself from them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against Hashem;
for they have begotten banim zarim (strange, illegitimate children);
now shall a [Rosh] Chodesh devour them with their fields.
8 Blow ye the shofar in Giv'ah, and the trumpet in Ramah;
cry aloud at Beit-Aven; after thee, O Binyamin!
9 Ephrayim shall be desolate in the Yom Tokheichah (Day of Rebuke):
among the Shivtei Yisroel have I made known that which is certain.
10 The sarim (princes) of Yehudah were like them that remove the gevul (boundary stone);
therefore I will pour out My wrath upon them like mayim.
11 Ephrayim is oppressed and crushed in mishpat (judgment),
because he willingly walked after tzav (human statute).†
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephrayim like maggots,
and to the Bais Yehudah like rottenness.
13 When Ephrayim saw his sickness,
and Yehudah saw his sores,
then went Ephrayim to the Assyrian,
and sent to the great king;
yet he was not able to heal you,
nor cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto Ephrayim like a lion,
and as a great lion to the Bais Yehudah;
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and there will be no one rescuing.
15 I will go and return to My place,
till they acknowledge their guilt, and seek My face;
in their tzar (affliction, distress) they will beg My favor.
* 5:2 see regarding Moshiach, Isa 53:5 † 5:11 Isa 28:10,13