Hosea 5:14

‘For I will be to Ephraim as a lion,

And as a young lion to the house of Judah.

I, even I, will tear and go away,

I will carry off, and there will be none to deliver.'

It is now emphasised that it was YHWH Who was responsible for the troubles of both Israel and Judah, because they had been faithless to Him and His covenant, both in their false worship and disobedience to the covenant commandments, and in their very seeking to Assyria rather than to YHWH. He would be like a lion who came across someone in a lonely place, seizing them and tearing them, and then leaving their carcasses, or carrying them off with no one there to rescue them (Baal being unable to deliver them). The ‘young male lion' was especially dangerous as, having left the pack, he roamed around, possibly with other young males, looking for a kill.