51 'Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, And, O house of the king, give ear, For the judgment 'is' for you, For, a snare ye have been on Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor. 2 And to slaughter sinners have gone deep, And I 'am' a fetter to them all. 3 I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel. 4 They give not up their habitual doings, To turn back unto their God, For a spirit of whoredoms 'is' in their midst, And Jehovah they have not known. 5 And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And Israel and Ephraim stumble by their iniquity, Stumbled also hath Judah with them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 5:1-5
Commentary on Hosea 5:1-7
(Read Hosea 5:1-7)
The piercing eye of God saw secret liking and disposition to sin, the love the house of Israel had to their sins, and the dominion their sins had over them. Pride makes men obstinate in other sins. And as Judah was treading in the same steps, they would fall with Israel. By dealing treacherously with the Lord, men only deceive themselves. Those that go to seek the Lord with their flocks and their herds only, and not with their hearts and souls, cannot expect to find him; nor shall any speed who do not seek the Lord while he may be found. See how much it is our concern to seek God early, now, while it is the accepted time, and the day of salvation.