Hosea 4–5

Chapter 4

God’s Controversy with Israel

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

For the Lord has a ^bcase against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is ^cno ¹faithfulness or ²kindness

Or ^dknowledge of God in the land.

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

They employ violence, so that ^fbloodshed ¹follows bloodshed.

³Therefore the land ^amourns,

And everyone who lives in 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 one ^1afind fault, and let none offer reproof;

For 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 being My priest.

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

I also will forget your children.

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

I will ^bchange their glory into shame.

⁸They ^afeed on the ¹sin of My people

And ^bdirect their desire toward their iniquity.

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

So I will ^bpunish them for their ways

And repay them for their deeds.

^10aThey will eat, but not have enough;

They will ^bplay the harlot, but not increase,

Because they have ^1cstopped giving heed to the Lord.

¹¹Harlotry, ^awine and new wine take away the ¹understanding.

¹²My people ^aconsult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs 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 pleasant.

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 ^atemple 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,

Or go up to Beth-aven

^bAnd take the oath:

“As the Lord lives!”

¹⁶Since Israel is ^astubborn

Like a stubborn heifer,

¹Can the Lord now ^bpasture them

Like a lamb in a large field?

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to ^aidols;

^bLet him alone.

¹⁸Their liquor gone,

They play the harlot continually;

^aTheir ¹rulers dearly love shame.

^19aThe wind wraps them in its wings,

And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Chapter 5

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

¹Hear this, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Listen, O house of the king!

For the judgment applies to you,

For you have been a ^asnare at Mizpah

And a net spread out on Tabor.

²The ^arevolters have ^1bgone deep in depravity,

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 the Lord.

⁵Moreover, the ^apride of Israel testifies 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 the Lord, but they will ^bnot find Him;

He has ^cwithdrawn from them.

⁷They have ^adealt treacherously against the Lord,

For they have borne ^1billegitimate children.

Now the ^cnew moon will devour them with their ²land.

^8aBlow the horn in ^bGibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah.

Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:

“^cBehind you, Benjamin!”

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

Among the tribes of Israel I ^cdeclare what is sure.

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 ¹follow man’s command.

¹²Therefore I am like a ^amoth to Ephraim

And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah his ¹wound,

Then Ephraim went to ^aAssyria

And sent to ^2bKing Jareb.

But he is ^cunable to heal you,

Or to cure you of your wound.

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 earnestly ^bseek Me.