Hosea 4

^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.