Hosea 4–6

^aHear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel:

For ^aathe Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor ^bknowledge of God in the land.

^2cBy swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out,

And blood toucheth blood.

³Therefore ^dshall the land mourn,

And ^deevery one that dwelleth therein ^fshall languish,

^eghWith the beasts of the field, and ^ehwith the fowls of heaven;

Yea, ^ehthe fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

⁴Yet ⁱlet no man strive, nor reprove another:

For ^kthy people are as ^lthey that strive with the priest.

⁵Therefore shalt thou fall in the day,

And the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night,

And I will destroy ^mthy mother.

⁶My people are destroyed ⁿfor lack of knowledge,

Because thou hast rejected knowledge,

I will also reject thee, that ^othou shalt be no priest to me:

Seeing ^pthou hast forgotten the law of thy God,

I will also forget thy children.

^7qAs they were increased, so they sinned against me:

^rTherefore will I change their glory into shame.

⁸They ^seat up the sin of my people,

And they ^tset their heart on their iniquity.

^9uAnd there shall be, ^ulike people, like priest:

And ^vI will punish them for their ways,

And ^vreward them their doings.

¹⁰For ^wthey shall eat, and not have enough:

They shall commit whoredom, and shall not ^xincrease:

Because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

^11yWhoredom and ^yzwine and ^anew wine ^btake away the heart.

¹²My people ^cask counsel at their ^dstocks,

And ^etheir staff declareth unto them:

For ^fthe spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err,

And they have gone a whoring from under their God.

^13gThey sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains,

And burn incense upon the hills,

Under ^hoaks and ⁱpoplars and ^kelms,

Because the shadow thereof is good:

Therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom,

And ^lyour spouses shall commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom,

Nor your spouses when they commit adultery:

For themselves ^mare separated with whores,

And they sacrifice with harlots:

Therefore ⁿthe people that doth not understand shall fall.

¹⁵Though thou, Israel, play the harlot,

Yet let not Judah ⁿⁿoffend;

And come not ye unto ^opGilgal,

Neither go ye up to ^pqBeth-aven,

^rNor swear, The Lord liveth.

¹⁶For Israel ^sslideth back ^tas a backsliding heifer:

Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

^17uEphraim is joined to idols:

^vLet him alone.

¹⁸Their drink is sour; they have committed whoredom continually:

^wHer rulers with shame do love, ^xGive ye.

^19yThe wind hath bound her up in ^zher wings,

And ^athey shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

V.^aHear ye this, O priests;

And hearken, ye house of Israel;

And give ye ear, O house of the king;

For judgment is toward you,

Because ^bye have been ^ca snare on ^dMizpah,

And ^ea net spread upon ^fTabor.

²And ^gthe revolters ^hare profound to make slaughter,

Though I have been a rebuker of them all.

³ⁱI know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me:

For now, ^kO Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and ^kIsrael is defiled.

⁴They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God:

For ^lthe spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them,

And they have not known the Lord.

⁵And ^mthe pride of Israel doth testify ⁿto his face:

Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity;

Judah also shall fall with them.

⁶They shall go ^owith their flocks and with their herds ^pto seek the Lord;

^pBut they shall not find him; ^pphe hath withdrawn himself from them.

⁷They have ^qdealt treacherously against the Lord:

For they have begotton strange children:

Now shall ^ra month devour them with their portions.

^8sBlow ye ^tthe cornet in ^uGibeah,

And ^vthe trumpet in ^wRamah:

^xCry aloud at ^yBeth-aven,

^zAfter thee, O Benjamin.

⁹Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke:

Among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

¹⁰The princes of Judah were like ^athem that remove the bound:

Therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is ^boppressed and ^bbroken in judgment,

Because he willingly walked after ^cthe commandment.

¹²Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as ^dea moth,

And to the house of Judah as ^drottenness.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah saw his ^fwound,

Then went Ephraim ^gto the Assyrian,

And ^hsent to king Jareb:

Yet could he not heal you

Nor cure you of your ^fwound.

¹⁴For ^kI will be unto Ephraim as ^la lion,

And as a young lion to the house of Judah:

^mI, even I, will tear and go away;

I will take away, and ^mnone shall rescue him.

¹⁵I will go and return to my place,

Till ⁿthey acknowledge their offence, and seek my face:

^oIn their affliction they will ^pseek me early.

VI.Come and ^alet us return unto the Lord:

For ^bhe hath ^ctorn, and ^bdhe will heal us;

He hath smitten, and ^ehe will bind us up.

²After two days will ^fhe revive us:

^gIn the third day he will raise us up,

And we shall live in his sight.

^3hThen shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord:

ⁱHis going forth is prepared ^jas the morning;

And ^khe shall come unto us as the rain.

As ^lmthe latter and ^lformer rain unto the earth.

⁴ⁿO Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee?

ⁿO Judah, what shall I do unto thee?

For your goodness is ^oas a morning cloud,

^oAnd as the early dew it goeth away.

⁵Therefore have I hewed them ^pby the prophets;

I have slain them ^qby the words of my mouth:

And thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

⁶For ^rI desired mercy, and ^rsnot sacrifice;

And ^tthe knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷But they like men ^uhave transgressed the covenant:

There ^vhave they dealt treacherously against me.

^8wGilead is a city of them that work iniquity,

And is polluted with blood.

⁹And as ^ytroops of robbers wait for a man,

^zSo ^athe company of priests murder in the way by consent:

For ^dthey commit lewdness.

¹⁰I have seen ^ea horrible thing in the house of Israel:

^fThere is the whoredom of Ephraim, ^fIsrael is defiled.

¹¹Also, O Judah, ^ghe hath set a harvest for thee,

^hWhen I returned the captivity of my people.

VII.