Hosea 5

KJV · Chapter 5/14

¹Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

²And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

³I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

⁴They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.

⁵And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

⁶They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

⁷They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

⁸Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

⁹Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

¹⁰The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

¹²Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

¹⁴For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

¹⁵I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Judgment extends to the priests, the people, and the royal house; Israel and Judah are accused of unfaithfulness and of seeking help in foreign alliances (Assyria) instead of in God.

Explanation

Here the criticism turns specifically against the political and religious leaders who should have guided the people back to God but instead became 'a snare' and 'a net' that trap them ever deeper in sin. The mention of king Jareb (an ironic nickname for the Assyrian king, meaning something like 'great contender') shows the futility of seeking security in human powers instead of in God. The final phrase, that they 'will seek my face' when in distress, reveals the biblical pattern that it is often crisis that brings us back to God. Today's application is to examine whom we truly trust when we face hardship.

Fun facts

Blowing the trumpet (shofar) in Gibeah and Ramah (v.8) was the war alarm signal used in Israel — the prophet announces that the alarm should sound because of the people's own sin.
'Ephraim' is used throughout the book as a synonym for the Northern Kingdom, because it was the largest and most influential of the ten tribes that made up Israel.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Hosea 5:1God summons the priests, the people, and the royal family to hear the judgment: they became hunting traps at Mizpah and on Mount Tabor, places that should have been only for worship.
Hosea 5:2By offering twisted sacrifices, they sank deeper and deeper into corruption; so God Himself will be the one to correct them all.
Hosea 5:3God is not deceived: He knows Ephraim and knows about the unfaithfulness that has contaminated all of Israel, even if the people try to hide.
Hosea 5:4The people do not even try to change their lives, because idolatry ("the spirit of whoredoms") has already taken over their hearts to the point that they no longer recognize the Lord.
Hosea 5:5Israel's arrogance is visible on the people's own face; the fall caused by injustice will not strike Israel and Ephraim alone, it will drag Judah down with them.
Hosea 5:6Even bringing the usual sacrifices (sheep and cattle), they will not find God, because He had already withdrawn from them beforehand.
Hosea 5:7Betrayal against the Lord for begetting "strange children" (the fruit of mixed worship); even their own religious celebrations, like the new moon, will turn against them.
Hosea 5:8Blowing the cornet at Gibeah and the trumpet at Ramah was the alarm system of the time — one city warning another that danger, probably a war between Israel and Judah, was coming.
Hosea 5:9Ephraim will be devastated on the day of punishment — God makes it clear, before all the tribes of Israel, that this is the certain sentence.
Hosea 5:10The leaders of Judah are also accused of "removing the bound" (stealing land, committing injustice), which brings God's wrath down on them like a flood.
Hosea 5:11Ephraim is being oppressed in judgment because he chose, of his own will, to follow a wrong path instead of God's true commandment.
Hosea 5:12God compares Himself to a moth and to rot — not a sudden attack, but a slow, internal corrosion that destroys Ephraim and Judah from within.
Hosea 5:13"King Jareb" is probably not a proper name but a mocking nickname for the king of Assyria; the text shows Ephraim seeking Assyrian military help instead of seeking the Lord — an alliance that will cost dearly.
Hosea 5:14God compares Himself to a lion tearing its prey apart, a shocking image used to make clear that the announced punishment comes from Him, not only from enemy nations.
Hosea 5:15God promises to withdraw until the people acknowledge their own guilt; only in distress, at daybreak, will they finally seek Him with their whole heart.

Chapters

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