The Punishment for Israel's Apostasy

51 Hear this , O priests ! Give heed , O house of Israel ! Listen , O house of the king ! For the judgment applies to you, For you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out on Tabor . 2 The revolters have gone deep in depravity , But I will chastise all of them. 3 I know Ephraim , and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now , O Ephraim , you have played the harlot , Israel has defiled itself. 4 Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God . For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the Lord . 5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity ; Judah also has stumbled with them. 6 They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the Lord , but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord , For they have borne illegitimate children . Now the new moon will devour them with their land .

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah , The trumpet in Ramah . Sound an alarm at Beth-aven : " Behind you, Benjamin !" 9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke ; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure . 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary ; On them I will pour out My wrath like water . 11 Ephraim is oppressed , crushed in judgment , Because he was determined to follow e man's command . 12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah . 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness , And Judah his wound , Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb . But he is unable e to heal you, Or to cure you of your wound . 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah . I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver .

The Insincerity of Israel's Repentance

15 I will go away and return to My place Until e they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face ; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.