51 "Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor. 2 You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done. 3 I know what you are like, OÂ Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, OÂ Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled. 4 Your deeds won't let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord . 5 "The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them. 6 When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 5:1-7
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.