Hosea 4

The Lord Accuses Israel

4^kHear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

for ^lthe Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and ^mno knowledge of God in the land;

²ⁿthere is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and ^obloodshed follows bloodshed.

³Therefore ^pthe land mourns,

and all who dwell in it languish,

^qand also the beasts of the field

and the birds of the heavens,

^rand even the fish of the sea are taken away.

^4sYet let no one contend,

and let none accuse,

for with you is ^tmy contention, O priest.¹

⁵You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

and I will destroy ^uyour mother.

⁶My people are destroyed ^vfor lack of knowledge;

^wbecause you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you ^xfrom being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

^yI also will forget your children.

^7zThe more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

^aI will change their glory into shame.

^8bThey feed on the sin² of my people;

they are greedy for their iniquity.

^9cAnd it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

^10dThey shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord

to cherish ¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine,

which ^etake away the understanding.

¹²My people ^finquire of a piece of wood,

and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For ^ga spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

and they have left their God to play the whore.

^13hThey sacrifice on the tops of the mountains

and burn offerings on the hills,

ⁱunder oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

nor your brides when they commit adultery;

for ^jthe men themselves go aside with prostitutes

and sacrifice with ^kcult prostitutes,

and a people ^lwithout understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O ^mIsrael,

let not ^mJudah become guilty.

ⁿEnter not into ^oGilgal,

nor go up to ^pBeth-aven,

and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”

¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer,

Israel is stubborn;

can the Lord now feed them

like a lamb in a broad pasture?

^17qEphraim is joined to idols;

^rleave him alone.

¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;

^stheir rulers³ dearly love shame.

^19tA wind has wrapped them⁴ in its wings,

and they shall ^ube ashamed because of their sacrifices.