Hosea 5
The full text of Hosea 5 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
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 have gone deep in slaughter,
but I am a discipline for all of them.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me—
for now, Ephraim, you have been promiscuous;
Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not allow them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of promiscuity is within them,
and the LORD they do not know.
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them.
6 With their flocks and their herds they will go
to seek the LORD, but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
7 Against the LORD they have been faithless,
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them
with their fields.
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven!
Behind you, Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will become a desolation
on the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like those who move a boundary marker.
Upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
for he was determined to go after filth.
12 So I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like rot to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent to the great king.
But he cannot heal you
or cure your wound.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, I will tear and go;
I will carry off, and no one will rescue.
15 I will go, I will return to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will earnestly seek me.
Translation notes (9)
- Hosea 5:2a The Hebrew phrase wəšaḥăṭāh śēṭîm heʿĕmîqû is very difficult to translate. The Hebrew word śēṭîm means 'those who turn aside' or 'rebels.'
- Hosea 5:5a The Hebrew phrase gəʾôn yiśrāʾēl can mean either 'the pride or arrogance of Israel' or 'the Pride of Israel,' referring to YHWH himself.
- Hosea 5:7a The Hebrew phrase bānîm zārîm means 'strange or foreign children,' possibly referring to children from mixed marriages or metaphorically illegitimate children.
- Hosea 5:8a This verse describes a military alarm sequence moving south through Gibeah, Ramah, and Beth-aven, indicating an invasion route toward Judah.
- Hosea 5:10a Moving boundary stones was a grave covenant violation (Deut 19:14; 27:17) — Judah exploits Israel's weakness.
- Hosea 5:11a The meaning of the Hebrew word ṣāw is debated; it can mean 'command,' 'filth,' or 'futility.' Some interpret it as a reference to a foreign alliance.
- Hosea 5:12a The Hebrew word kāʿāš means 'like a moth' or 'pus,' and kārāqāb means 'like decay' or 'rot.' These describe God as a slow, hidden destroyer.
- Hosea 5:13a The Hebrew phrase melek yārēb probably means 'great king,' similar to the Akkadian šarru rabbu, or it could be a proper name, possibly 'King Jareb,' referring to a warrior king.
- Hosea 5:15a The Hebrew phrase ʿad ʾăšer yeʾšəmû means 'until they bear their guilt' or 'acknowledge guilt.' This implies divine withdrawal until repentance.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Hosea, is free to read here on the web.
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