HOSEA
CHAPTER 4

The Charge Against Israel

¹
Hear the word of the LORD , you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
"There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
² There is only cursing, ^[1] lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
³ Because of this the land mourns, ^[2]
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying.

⁴ "But let no man bring a charge,
let no man accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.
⁵ You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother-
⁶ my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

"Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
⁷ The more the priests increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged ^[3] their ^[4] Glory for something disgraceful.
⁸ They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.
⁹ And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰ "They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not increase,
because they have deserted the LORD
to give themselves ¹¹ to prostitution,
to old wine and new,
which take away the understanding ¹² of my people.
They consult a wooden idol
and are answered by a stick of wood.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

¹⁴ "I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes-
a people without understanding will come to ruin!

¹⁵ "Though you commit adultery, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.

"Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth Aven. ^[5]
And do not swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives!'
¹⁶ The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
¹⁸ Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
¹⁹ A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Footnotes

1. 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse upon
2. 4:3 Or dries up
3. 4:7 Syriac and an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text I will exchange
4. 4:7 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition my
5. 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a name for Bethel, which means house of God ).

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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