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Hosea 5:8-15

There will be war between Judah and Israel

8 ‘Make a noise with your horns in Gibeah!

Make a noise with your trumpets in Ramah!

Warn the people in Beth Aven of danger!

Men of Benjamin's tribe, prepare to fight!

5:8Gibeah, Ramah and Beth Aven were all near Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah.

9 The day for Ephraim's punishment will soon come.

That will be the end of them!

I make this promise to all the tribes of Israel.

It will certainly happen!

10 The leaders of Judah are not honest.

They are like people who move stones which show the border of their land.

5:10To move stones that show the border of someone's land was against God's Law. See Deuteronomy 19:14.

So I will punish them with my great anger.

11  Terrible trouble will come to Ephraim's people.

They will receive great punishment.

They deserve that because they chose to worship idols.

12 I will destroy the people of Ephraim,

as a moth eats cloth.

I will also destroy the people of Judah,

as ants destroy wood.

13 Ephraim's people knew that they were ill.

Judah's people knew that they had wounds.

Ephraim's leaders expected Assyria to help them.

5:13Assyria was a country that was north of Israel. It was in what are now called northern Iraq and south-east Turkey. The Assyrians were enemies of the Israelites.

They asked Assyria's great king for help.

But he is not able to make you well.

He cannot make your wounds better.

14 I will attack Ephraim's people like a lion.

I will also attack Judah's people like a young lion.

I myself will tear them into pieces.

I will carry them away.

Nobody will be able to rescue them.

15 Then I will return to my place.

I will leave them to receive their full punishment.

When they have suffered enough,

they will turn back to me.

They will want to serve me again.’