Hosea 4–5

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 ^v†reward 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.

^14||I 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.

5^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.

^4†||They 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 begotten 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.