1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

4They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.

5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with them.

6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

12Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

COMMENTARY by Dr. Dave Burnette

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Hosea

Date Penned: BC 715 (Covering Events BC 753-715)

Overview: God's Wayward People (c 4-14)

Theme: Israel's Sinfulness (c 4-5)

Message: God Judgement Against Israel (v 1-15)

Hosea 5 Commentary

(5:1) With both civil and religious leaders hopelessly corrupt, the people of Israel did not have much of a chance. They looked to their leaders for guidance. and in God's plan they should have found it. Today we can often choose our own leaders, but we still need to be aware of whether they are taking us toward or away from God. God held the people responsible for what they did. Similarly , he holds us responsible for our actions and choices.

(5:4) Persistent sin hardens a person's heart and makes it difficult to repent. Deliberately choosing to disobey God can sear the conscience. Each sin makes the next one easier to commit. Don't allow sin to wear down a hard path deep within you. Steer as far away from sinful practices as possible.

(5:10) Those who "remove the bound" are the lowest sort of thieves. The princes of Judah were like those who cheat people by moving the boundary marker on their land as seen in Deuteronomy chapter 19.

(5:13) During the reigns of Menahem and Hoshea, Israel turned to Assyria for help as in 2 Kings chapter 15, but even the great world powers of that time could not help Israel, for God himself had determined to judge the nation. If we neglect God's call to repentance, how can we escape? See Hebrews 2:3

LIFE APPLICATION by Dr. Dave Burnette

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the Book of Hosea with Chapter 5 In our text today we see God's judgment against Israel held each person responsible for their actions. Here the persistent sin of the people seared their conscience and led to their hard hearts. In making application we see that our persistent sin will sear our conscience leading to a hard heart that is far from repentance. How about you? Do you see your persistent sin leads to a hard heart? Let us learn from our text today to see that must repent of our sin when the Lord convicts us unless we too sear our conscience which will lead to unrepentant hard heart.