New International Version | New Living Translation |
1"Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on 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. |
2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them. | 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 all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt. | 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. |
4"Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; 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. |
5Israel's arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles 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. |
6When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them. | 6When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the LORD, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.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 are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, he will devour 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. |
8"Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, 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 laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. | 9One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble. |
10Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water. | 10“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall. |
11Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. | 11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols. |
12I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah. | 12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood. |
13"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores. | 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. |
14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one 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 to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face-- in their misery 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.” |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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