Hosea 4:1-19
4 Hear the word of Jehovah, O people of Israel,For Jehovah has a legal case against the inhabitants of the land,+Because there is no truth nor loyal love nor knowledge of God in the land.+
2 False oaths and lying+ and murder+And stealing and adultery+ are widespread,And one act of bloodshed follows another act of bloodshed.+
3 That is why the land will mourn+And every inhabitant in it will waste away;The wild animals of the field and the birds of the heavens,Even the fish of the sea, will perish.
4 “However, let no man contend or reprove,+For your people are like those who contend against a priest.+
5 So you will stumble in broad daylight,And the prophet will stumble with you, as if it were night.
And I will silence* your mother.
6 My people will be silenced,* because there is no knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,+I will also reject you from serving as my priest;And because you have forgotten the law* of your God,+I myself will forget your sons.
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me.+
I will change their glory into disgrace.*
8 They feed on the sin of my people,And they are greedy for* their error.
9 It will be the same for the people as for the priest;I will call them to account for their ways,And I will bring on them the consequences of their actions.+
10 They will eat but not be satisfied.+
They will be promiscuous,* but they will not increase,+Because they have shown no regard for Jehovah.
11 Prostitution* and wine and new wineTake away the motivation to do what is right.*+
12 My people consult their wooden idols,Doing what their staff* tells them;Because the spirit of prostitution* causes them to go astray,And by their prostitution* they refuse to submit to their God.
13 On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice,+And on the hills they make sacrifices smoke,Under oak trees and storax trees and every big tree,+Because their shade is good.
That is why your daughters commit prostitution*And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not hold an accounting against your daughters because of their prostitution,*And against your daughters-in-law because of their adultery.
For the men go off with the harlotsAnd sacrifice with the temple prostitutes;Such a people without understanding+ will come to ruin.
15 Although you are committing prostitution,* O Israel,+Let not Judah become guilty.+
Do not come to Gilʹgal+ or to Beth-aʹven,+And do not swear, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive!’+
16 For like a stubborn cow, Israel has become stubborn.+
Will Jehovah now shepherd them like a young ram in an open pasture?*
17 Eʹphra·im is joined to idols.+
Let him alone!
18 When their beer* is finished,They become promiscuous.*
And her rulers* dearly love dishonor.+
19 The wind will wrap her* in its wings,And they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.”
Footnotes
^ Or “destroy.”
^ Or “destroyed.”
^ Or “instruction.”
^ Or possibly, “They have exchanged my own glory for disgrace.”
^ Or “be grossly immoral; engage in prostitution.”
^ Lit., “Take away heart.”
^ Or “Immorality; Promiscuity.”
^ Or “diviner’s rod.”
^ Or “immorality; promiscuity.”
^ Or “immorality; promiscuity.”
^ Or “immorality; promiscuity.”
^ Or “immorality; promiscuity.”
^ Or “immorality; promiscuity.”
^ Lit., “a roomy place?”
^ Or “wheat beer.”
^ Or “become grossly immoral; engage in prostitution.”
^ Lit., “shields.”
^ Or “will sweep her away.”
