Hosea 4–5

The Lord Brings Charges Against Israel

4People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.

He is bringing charges

against you who live in Israel.

He says, “There is no faithfulness

or love in the land.

No one recognizes me as God.

²People call down curses on others.

They tell lies and commit murder.

They steal and commit adultery.

They break all of my laws.

They keep on spilling the blood of others.

³That is why the land is drying up.

All those who live in it

are getting weaker and weaker.

The wild animals and the birds of the air are dying.

So are the fish in the ocean.

⁴“But you priests should not blame the people.

You should not find fault with one another.

After all, your people

could also bring charges against you.

⁵You trip and fall day and night.

And the prophets fall down along with you.

So I will destroy your nation.

She is the one who gave birth to you.

⁶My people are destroyed

because they do not know me.

“You priests have refused to obey me.

So I will refuse to accept you as my priests.

You have not paid any attention to my law.

So I will not let your children be my priests.

⁷The more priests there are,

the more they sin against me.

They have traded their glorious God for that shameful god Baal.

⁸They live off the sins of my people.

And they want them to keep on sinning.

⁹So here is what I will do.

I will punish people and priests alike.

I will judge them because of their sinful lives.

I will pay them back

for the evil things they have done.

¹⁰“My people will eat.

But they will not have enough.

They will have sex with prostitutes.

But they will not have any children.

That is because they have deserted me.

¹¹They have sex with prostitutes.

They drink old wine and fresh wine.

When they do those things,

it destroys their ability to understand.

¹²They ask a wooden statue of a god for advice.

They expect to get answers from a stick of wood.

They act like prostitutes.

That leads them down the wrong path.

I am their God.

But they are not faithful to me.

¹³They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops.

They burn offerings on the hills.

They worship under oak, poplar and terebinth trees.

The trees provide plenty of shade.

So your daughters become prostitutes.

And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

¹⁴“I will not punish your daughters

when they become prostitutes.

I will not judge your daughters-in-law

when they commit adultery.

After all, the men themselves have sex with sinful women.

They offer sacrifices where temple prostitutes earn their living.

People who can’t understand will be destroyed!

¹⁵“Israel, you are not faithful to me.

But I do not want Judah to become guilty too.

“My people, do not go to Gilgal to offer sacrifices.

Do not go up to Bethel to worship other gods.

Do not take an oath and say,

‘You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’

¹⁶The people of Israel are stubborn.

They are as stubborn as a young cow.

So how can I take care of them

like lambs in a meadow?

¹⁷The people of Ephraim have joined themselves to other gods.

And nothing can be done to help them.

¹⁸They continue to be unfaithful to me

even when their drinks are gone.

And their rulers love to do shameful things.

¹⁹A windstorm will blow all of them away.

And their sacrifices will bring shame on them.

The Lord Judges Israel

5“Listen to me, you priests!

Pay attention, people of Israel!

Listen, you members of the royal family!

Here is my decision against you.

You have been like a trap at Mizpah.

You have been like a net spread out on Mount Tabor.

²You refuse to obey me.

You offer sacrifices to other gods.

So I will punish all of you.

³People of Ephraim, I know all about you.

What you are doing is not hidden from me.

Now you have joined yourselves to other gods.

You have made yourselves ‘unclean.’

⁴“You can’t return to me

because you have done so many evil things.

In your hearts you long to act like prostitutes.

You do not recognize me as the Lord.

⁵Israel, your pride witnesses that you are guilty.

People of Ephraim, you trip and fall because you have sinned.

Judah, you fall down along with them.

⁶Israel, you will come to worship me.

You will bring your animals to offer as sacrifices.

But you will not find me.

I have turned away from you.

⁷You are not faithful to me.

Your children do not belong to me.

The way you act at your New Moon Feasts

will destroy you and your fields.

⁸“My people, blow trumpets in Gibeah!

Blow horns in Ramah!

Shout the battle cry in Bethel!

Say to Benjamin, ‘The Assyrian army is coming!’

⁹People of Ephraim, you will be completely destroyed

when it is time for me to punish you.

You can be sure it will happen.

I am announcing it among your tribes.

¹⁰Judah, your leaders have stolen some land.

They have moved their borders farther north.

So I will pour out my anger on you

like a flood of water.

¹¹Ephraim, you will soon be crushed.

The Assyrians will stomp all over you.

It will happen because you have made up your minds

to chase after other gods.

¹²Ephraim, I will be like a moth to you.

Judah, I will cause you to rot away.

¹³“Ephraim, you saw how sick you were.

Judah, you saw that you were wounded.

Ephraim, you turned to Assyria for help.

You sent gifts to the great King Tiglath-Pileser.

But he is not able to make you well.

He can’t heal your wounds.

¹⁴Ephraim, I will be like a lion to you.

Judah, I will attack you like a powerful lion.

I will tear you to pieces.

I will drag you off.

Then I will leave you.

No one will be able to save you.

¹⁵I will go back to my home in heaven.

I will stay there until you admit you have sinned.

Then you will turn to me.

You will suffer so much

that you will really want me to help you.”