Hosea 5

¹ “Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and 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 are deep in slaughter, but I discipline all of them.

³ I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.

⁴ Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God, for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know the LORD.

⁵ The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them.

⁶ They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD, but they won’t find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.

⁷ They are unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

⁸ “Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!

⁹ Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.

¹⁰ The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment, because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

¹² Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.

¹³ “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

¹⁴ For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.

¹⁵ I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”

Around Hosea 5

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Hosea as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

God tells Hosea to take a wife who will not be faithful to him, and from that moment the prophet’s own home becomes a picture of God and Israel. The book moves between accusation and tenderness. Israel has chased other gods and trusted foreign powers, and it has been told so. Yet God cannot give his people up.

In chapter 11 God speaks like a parent: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,” and “I taught Ephraim to walk.” Then comes the cry that gives the book its heart: “How can I give you up, Ephraim?” It ends with a call to return and a promise of healing.

Background

Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel in the eighth century before Christ, in its last prosperous and then chaotic decades before Assyria destroyed it. He spoke to a land that still seemed secure and was close to its end.

How Christians read it

Readers have asked whether the marriage was a real one or a parable; most take it as real. The book’s picture of God as a husband wronged and as a parent teaching a child to walk (chapter 11) is among the most moving in the prophets. Jesus twice quotes its line that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, and Matthew applies 11:1 to Jesus’ childhood.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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