1  Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

for ^wthe Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and no ^xknowledge of God in the land;

2  there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3  Therefore the land mourns,

and all who dwell in it languish,

and also the beasts of the field

and the birds of the heavens,

and even the ^yfish of the sea are taken away.

4  Yet let no one contend,

and let none accuse,

for with you is my contention, O ^zpriest.²

5  You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

and I will destroy ^ayour mother.

6  My people are destroyed ^bfor lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7  ^cThe more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

I will change their glory into ^dshame.

8  They feed on the sin³ of my people;

they are greedy for their iniquity.

9  ^eAnd it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

10  ^fThey shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord

to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,

which take away the understanding.

12  My people inquire of a piece of wood,

and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For a ^gspirit of whoredom has led them astray,

and they have left their God to play the whore.

13  They sacrifice ^hon the tops of the mountains

and burn offerings on the hills,

under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and your brides commit adultery.

14  I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

nor your brides when they commit adultery;

for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes

and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,

and a people ⁱwithout understanding shall come to ruin.

15  Though you play the whore, O Israel,

let not Judah become guilty.

Enter not into ^jGilgal,

nor go up to ^kBeth-aven,

and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”

16  Like a stubborn heifer,

Israel is stubborn;

can the Lord now feed them

like a lamb in a broad pasture?

17  Ephraim is joined to idols;

leave him alone.

18  When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;

their rulers⁴ dearly love shame.

19  A wind has wrapped them⁵ in its wings,

and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

1  Hear this, O ^lpriests!

Pay attention, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For the judgment is for you;

for you have been a snare at Mizpah

and a net spread upon Tabor.

2  And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,

but I will discipline all of them.

3  I know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me;

for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;

Israel is defiled.

4  Their deeds do not permit them

to return to their God.

For the ^mspirit of whoredom is within them,

and ⁿthey know not the Lord.

5  ^oThe pride of Israel testifies to his face;⁶

Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;

Judah also shall stumble with them.

6  With their flocks and herds they shall go

to seek the Lord,

^pbut they will not find him;

he has withdrawn from them.

7  They have ^qdealt faithlessly with the Lord;

for they have borne alien children.

Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

8  ^rBlow the horn in Gibeah,

the trumpet in Ramah.

Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;

we follow you,⁷ O Benjamin!

9  Ephraim shall become a desolation

in the day of punishment;

among the tribes of Israel

I make known what is sure.

10  The princes of Judah have become

like those who ^smove the landmark;

upon them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

11  Ephraim is ^toppressed, crushed in judgment,

because he was determined to go after filth.⁸

12  But I am like a moth to Ephraim,

and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

13  When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah his wound,

then Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to the ^ugreat king.⁹

But he is not able to cure you

or heal 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 and go away;

I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

15  I will return again to my place,

until they acknowledge their guilt and ^vseek my face,

and in their distress ^wearnestly seek me.