Hosea 4:1–7:16
4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a acharge 1against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or bknowledge of God in the land.
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed 2upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore cthe land will mourn;
And deveryone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those ewho contend with the priest.
5 Therefore you shall stumble fin the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 gMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
hBecause you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The more they sinned against Me;
iI 3will change 4their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their 5heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: jlike people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And 6reward them for their deeds.
10 For kthey shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.
11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine lenslave the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their mwooden idols,
And their 7staff informs them.
For nthe spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
13 oThey offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
pTherefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a qritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
15 “Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
rDo not come up to Gilgal,
tNor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—
16 “For Israel uis stubborn
Like a stubborn calf;
Now the Lord will let them forage
Like a lamb in 9open country.
17 “Ephraim is joined to idols,
vLet him alone.
18 Their drink 1is rebellion,
They commit harlotry continually.
wHer 2rulers 3dearly love dishonor.
19 xThe wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And ythey shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah
5 “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For 1yours is the judgment,
Because ayou have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.
2 The revolters are bdeeply involved in slaughter,
Though I rebuke them all.
3 cI know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, dyou commit harlotry;
Israel is defiled.
4 “They 2do not direct their deeds
Toward turning to their God,
For ethe spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know the Lord.
5 The fpride of Israel testifies to his face;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them.
6 “With their flocks and herds
gThey shall go to seek the Lord,
But they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
7 They have hdealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have begotten 3pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
8 “Blow ithe ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.
10 “The princes of Judah are like those who lremove a landmark;
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
11 Ephraim is moppressed and broken in judgment,
Because he willingly walked by nhuman precept.
12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,
And to the house of Judah olike rottenness.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his pwound,
Then Ephraim went qto Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.
14 For rI will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
sI, even I, will tear them and go away;
I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
15 I will return again to My place
Till they 4acknowledge their offense.
Then they will seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
6 Come, aand let us return to the Lord;
For bHe has torn, but cHe will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will 1bind us up.
2 dAfter two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
3 eLet us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established fas the morning;
gHe will come to us hlike the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4 “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by ithe words of My mouth;
And 2your judgments are like light that goes forth.
6 For I desire jmercy 3and knot sacrifice,
And the lknowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 “But like 4men they transgressed the covenant;
There they dealt treacherously with Me.
8 mGilead is a city of evildoers
And 5defiled with blood.
9 As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,
So the company of npriests omurder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they commit plewdness.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:
There is the 6harlotry of Ephraim;
Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,
When I return the captives of My people.
7 “When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For athey have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers 1takes spoil outside.
2 They 2do not consider in their hearts
That bI remember all their wickedness;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them;
They are before My face.
3 They make a cking glad with their wickedness,
And princes dwith their lies.
4 “They eare all adulterers.
Like an oven heated by a baker—
He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,
Until it is leavened.
Princes have made him sick, 3inflamed with fwine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
6 They prepare their heart like an oven,
While they lie in wait;
4Their baker sleeps all night;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot, like an oven,
And have devoured their judges;
All their kings have fallen.
gNone among them calls upon Me.
8 “Ephraim hhas mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
9 iAliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the jpride of Israel testifies to his face,
But kthey do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.
Futile Reliance on the Nations
11 “Ephraim lalso is like a silly dove, without 5sense—
mThey call to Egypt,
They go to nAssyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will ospread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
pAccording to what their congregation has heard.
13 “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
Because they have transgressed against Me!
Though qI redeemed them,
Yet they have spoken lies against Me.
14 rThey did not cry out to Me with their heart
When they wailed upon their beds.
“They 6assemble together for grain and new swine,
7They rebel against Me;
15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me;
16 They return, but not 8to the Most High;
tThey are like a treacherous bow.
Their princes shall fall by the sword
For the ucursings of their tongue.
This shall be their derision vin the land of Egypt.