Hosea 4:4–10

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The Lord’s Dispute against the Sinful Priesthood

^4:4Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else:⁸

for my case is against you priests!⁹

^4:5You stumble day and night,

and the false prophets stumble with you;

You have destroyed your own people!¹⁰

^4:6You have destroyed¹¹ my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me,¹²

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject¹³ the law of your God,

I will reject¹⁴ your descendants.

^4:7The more the priests increased in numbers,

the more they rebelled against me.

They have turned¹⁵ their glorious calling

into a shameful disgrace!

^4:8They feed on the sin offerings of my people;

their appetites long for their iniquity!

^4:9I will deal with the people and priests together:¹⁶

I will punish them both for their ways,

and I will repay them for their deeds.

^4:10They will eat, but not be satisfied;

they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers;

because they have abandoned the Lord

by pursuing other gods.¹⁷

Read in Logos

Footnotes

8 Or “Let no one contend or accuse.”
9 The reads וְעַמְּךָ כִּמְרִיבֵי כֹהֵן (vé’ammékha kimrive khohen): “And your people [are] like those who contend against the priest.” This is reflected in the and the versions; however, it is syntactically awkward and makes little sense in context. Several textual critics suggest emending the text to read וְעִמְּךָ רִיבִי כֹהֵן (vé’immékha rivi khohen): “My contention is with/against you, O priest!” This involves (1) the revocalization of עַמְּךָ (“your people”) to עִמְּךָ (“with/against you”) and (2) positing dittography (a letter written twice instead of once) of ךְּ (kaf) between original וְעַמְּךָ רִיבִי to create וְעַמְּךָ כִּרִיבִי (). The editors suggest that the is corrupt and should be emended. However, the editors of the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project retain the reading with a “B” rating. Likewise, the English translations are split: (1) “for thy people are as they that strive with the priest”; “for your people are like those who contend with the priest”; “for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest”; (2) “for with you is my contention, O priest”; “for this your people has a grievance against [you], O priest!”; “my complaint is against you priests”; “My case is against you, the priests!” The singular noun כֹּהֵן (cohen, “priest”) may be understood as a singular of number (so , , ), referring to a singular individual (perhaps the high priest); however, it is more likely that it functions as a collective singular, referring to the priesthood as a whole (e.g., 4:7–10, so , , , , ). Collective singular forms alternate with plural forms throughout the oracle against the priests in 4:4–10.
10 The reads וְדָמִיתִי אִמֶּךָ (védamiti ’immekha, “and I will destroy your mother”), and is followed by most English versions; however, the text should probably be emended to וְדָמִית עַמֶּךָ (védamit ’ammekha, “and you have destroyed your own people”). The 2nd person masculine singular form וְדָמִית (védamit, “and you have destroyed”) is preserved in several medieval Hebrew and reflected in Jerome’s . For discussion in favor of the reading, see D. Barthélemy, e.d., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:232. Or “and I will destroy your mother” (so , ).
11 Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so , , ).
12 Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; “because they don’t know me.”
13 Heb “have forgotten”; , “have ignored.”
14 Heb “forget” (so , ); “forget to bless.”
15 The reads אָמִיר (’amir, “I will change, exchange”; Hiphil imperfect 1st person common singular from מוּר, mur, “to change, exchange”). However, an alternate scribal tradition (tiqquneh sopherim, that is, an intentional scribal change when the Masoretes believed that the received consonantal reading was corrupt) preserves the reading הֵמִירוּ (hemiru, “they have exchanged”; Hiphil perfect 3rd person common plural from מוּר). This alternate scribal tradition is also found in the and reflected in the . Several translations follow the : , , “I will change their glory into shame” and “I will turn your honor into disgrace”; however, others adopt the alternate tradition: “they changed their glory into shame” and “they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful.” For discussion in favor of the reading, see D. Barthélemy, e.d., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:232.
16 Heb “And it shall be, like people, like priest” (so ); “The priests shall fare no better than the people.”
17 Heb “by guarding harlotry.” The present translation assumes that the first word of v. 11 in the Hebrew text is to be taken with the infinitive at the end of v. 10 (so also , , , ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Yet let no one contend,

and let none accuse,

for with you is my contention, O priest.

You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

and I will destroy your mother.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

I will change their glory into shame.

They feed on the sin of my people;

they are greedy for their iniquity.

And it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

They shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord

to cherish

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“But let no one bring a charge,

let no one accuse another,

for your people are like those

who bring charges against a priest.

You stumble day and night,

and the prophets stumble with you.

So I will destroy your mother—

my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also reject you as my priests;

because you have ignored the law of your God,

I also will ignore your children.

The more priests there were,

the more they sinned against me;

they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.

They feed on the sins of my people

and relish their wickedness.

And it will be: Like people, like priests.

I will punish both of them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

“They will eat but not have enough;

they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,

because they have deserted the Lord

to give themselves

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But let no one dispute; let no one argue,

for my case is against you priests.

You will stumble by day;

the prophet will also stumble with you by night.

And I will destroy your mother.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I will reject you from serving as my priest.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your sons.

The more they multiplied,

the more they sinned against me.

I will change their honor into disgrace.

They feed on the sin of my people;

they have an appetite for their iniquity.

The same judgment will happen

to both people and priests.

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

They will eat but not be satisfied;

they will be promiscuous but not multiply.

For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Don’t point your finger at someone else

and try to pass the blame!

My complaint, you priests,

is with you.

So you will stumble in broad daylight,

and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.

And I will destroy Israel, your mother.

My people are being destroyed

because they don’t know me.

Since you priests refuse to know me,

I refuse to recognize you as my priests.

Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,

I will forget to bless your children.

The more priests there are,

the more they sin against me.

They have exchanged the glory of God

for the shame of idols.

“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.

So the priests are glad when the people sin!

‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’

So now I will punish both priests and people

for their wicked deeds.

They will eat and still be hungry.

They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,

for they have deserted the Lord

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Yet, let no one contend,

and let no one accuse,

for with you, O priest, is my contention.

You will stumble by day,

and the priest also will stumble

with you at night.

And I will destroy your mother;

My people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from acting as a priest for me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your children.

When they became many, their sin increased against me;

they changed their glory into shame.

They feed on the sin of my people,

they are greedy for their iniquity.

And it will be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways,

and I will requite them for their deeds.

They will eat and not be satisfied;

they will play the whore and not multiply,

because they have forsaken Yahweh to devote themselves to

KJV 1900King James Version

Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another:

For thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

Therefore shalt thou fall in the day,

And the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night,

And I will destroy thy mother.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:

Because thou hast rejected knowledge,

I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:

Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God,

I will also forget thy children.

As they were increased, so they sinned against me:

Therefore will I change their glory into shame.

They eat up the sin of my people,

And they set their heart on their iniquity.

And there shall be, like people, like priest:

And I will punish them for their ways,

And reward them their doings.

For they shall eat, and not have enough:

They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase:

Because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

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