Hosea 4

The Charge Against Israel

4Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,

because the Lord has a charge^u to bring

against you who live in the land:^v

“There is no faithfulness,^w no love,

no acknowledgment^x of God in the land.^y

²There is only cursing,^a lying^z and murder,^a

stealing^b and adultery;^c

they break all bounds,

and bloodshed follows bloodshed.^d

³Because of this the land dries up,^e

and all who live in it waste away;^f

the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea are swept away.^g

⁴“But let no one bring a charge,

let no one accuse another,

for your people are like those

who bring charges against a priest.^h

⁵You stumbleⁱ day and night,

and the prophets stumble with you.

So I will destroy your mother^j—

⁶my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.^k

“Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also reject you as my priests;

because you have ignored the law^l of your God,

I also will ignore your children.

⁷The more priests there were,

the more they sinned against me;

they exchanged their glorious God^bm for something disgraceful.ⁿ

⁸They feed on the sins of my people

and relish their wickedness.^o

⁹And it will be: Like people, like priests.^p

I will punish both of them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.^q

¹⁰“They will eat but not have enough;^r

they will engage in prostitution^s but not flourish,

because they have deserted^t the Lord

to give themselves ¹¹to prostitution;^u

old wine^v and new wine

take away their understanding.^w

¹²My people consult a wooden idol,^x

and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.^y

A spirit of prostitution^z leads them astray;^a

they are unfaithful^b to their God.

¹³They sacrifice on the mountaintops

and burn offerings on the hills,

under oak,^c poplar and terebinth,

where the shade is pleasant.^d

Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution^e

and your daughters-in-law to adultery.^f

¹⁴“I will not punish your daughters

when they turn to prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law

when they commit adultery,

because the men themselves consort with harlots^g

and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes^h—

a people without understandingⁱ will come to ruin!^j

¹⁵“Though you, Israel, commit adultery,

do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;^k

do not go up to Beth Aven.^cl

And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’^m

¹⁶The Israelites are stubborn,ⁿ

like a stubborn heifer.^o

How then can the Lord pasture them

like lambs^p in a meadow?

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols;

leave him alone!

¹⁸Even when their drinks are gone,

they continue their prostitution;

their rulers dearly love shameful ways.

¹⁹A whirlwind^q will sweep them away,

and their sacrifices will bring them shame.^r