Hosea 4–5

CHAPTER 4

Yahweh’s Contention with Israel

^1aListen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel,

For Yahweh has a ^bcontention against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is ^cno truth or ¹lovingkindness

Or ^dknowledge of God in the land.

²There is ^aswearing of oaths, ^bdeception, ^cmurder, ^dstealing, and ^eadultery.

They break forth in violence so that ^fbloodshed ¹follows bloodshed.

³Therefore the land ^amourns,

And everyone who inhabits it languishes

Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,

And also the fish of the sea ¹disappear.

⁴Yet let no man ^acontend, and let no man offer reproof;

Indeed, your people are like those who ^bcontend with the priest.

⁵So you will ^astumble by day,

And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;

And I will destroy your ^bmother.

^6aMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have ^brejected knowledge,

I also will ^creject you from ministering as My priest.

Since you have ^dforgotten the ^elaw of your God,

I Myself also will forget your children.

⁷The more they ^amultiplied, the more they sinned against Me;

I will ^bchange their glory into disgrace.

⁸They ^aeat the ¹sin of My people

And ^blift up ²their soul toward their iniquity.

⁹And it will be like people, ^alike priest;

So I will ^bpunish them for their ways

And cause their deeds to return to them.

^10aThey will eat, but not be satisfied;

They will ^bplay the harlot, but not break forth in number,

Because they have ^1cforsaken Yahweh to keep harlotry.

¹¹Harlotry, ^awine, and new wine take away a heart of wisdom.

¹²My people ^aask their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand declares to them;

For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,

And they have played the harlot, departing ¹from their God.

¹³They offer sacrifices on the ^atops of the mountains

And ^1bburn incense on the hills,

^cUnder oak, poplar, and terebinth

Because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the harlot,

And your ²brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot

Or your ¹brides when they commit adultery,

For the men themselves go apart with harlots

And offer sacrifices with ^acult prostitutes;

So the people without understanding are ²ruined.

¹⁵Though you, Israel, play the harlot,

Do not let Judah become guilty;

Also do not go to ^aGilgal

Nor go up to Beth-aven

^bAnd swear the oath:

“As Yahweh lives!”

¹⁶Since Israel is ^astubborn

Like a stubborn heifer,

¹Can Yahweh now ^bfeed them

Like a lamb in a large field?

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to ^aidols;

^bLet him alone.

¹⁸Their drink gone;

They play the harlot continually;

^aTheir ¹rulers dearly love disgrace.

^19aThe wind binds them up in its wings,

And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

CHAPTER 5

Yahweh Withdraws from Israel

¹Hear this, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For the judgment is for you,

For you have been a ^asnare at Mizpah

And a net spread out on Tabor.

²And the ^arevolters have ^bdug deep into slaughtering,

But I will chastise all of them.

³I ^aknow Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot;

Israel has defiled itself.

⁴Their deeds will not allow them

To return to their God.

For a ^aspirit of harlotry is within them,

And they ^bdo not know Yahweh.

⁵Moreover, the ^apride of Israel answers against him,

And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

^bJudah also has stumbled with them.

⁶They will ^ago with their flocks and herds

To seek Yahweh, but they will ^bnot find Him;

He has ^cwithdrawn from them.

⁷They have ^adealt treacherously against Yahweh,

For they have borne ^bchildren of strangers.

Now the ^cnew moon will devour them with their portions.

^8aBlow the horn in ^bGibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah.

Make a loud shout at Beth-aven:

“^cBehind you, Benjamin!”

⁹Ephraim will become a ^adesolation in the ^bday of reproof;

Among the tribes of Israel I ^cwill make known what is true.

¹⁰The princes of Judah have become like those who ^amove a boundary;

On them I will ^bpour out My wrath ^clike water.

¹¹Ephraim is ^aoppressed, crushed in judgment,

^bBecause he was determined to ¹walk after man’s command.

¹²Therefore I am like a ^amoth to Ephraim

And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

¹³Then Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah his sore,

So Ephraim went to ^aAssyria

And sent to ^1bKing Jareb.

But he is ^cunable to heal you

Or to cure you of your sore.

¹⁴For I will be ^alike a lion to Ephraim

And like a young lion to the house of Judah.

^bI, even I, will tear to pieces and go away;

I will carry away, and there will be ^cnone to deliver.

¹⁵I will go away and return to My place

Until they ^1aacknowledge their guilt and seek My face;

In their affliction they will ^bseek Me earnestly.