Hosea 4

¹‘Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife is to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land, ²Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery—have increased, And blood against blood hath touched. ³Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea—they are removed. ⁴Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people are as those striving with a priest. ⁵And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.

⁶Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also! ⁷According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change. ⁸The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul. ⁹And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it. ¹⁰And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah. ¹¹Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart,

¹²My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God. ¹³On tops of the mountains they do sacrifice, And on the hills they make perfume, Under oak, and poplar, and terebinth, For good is its shade. ¹⁴Therefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh. ¹⁵Though a harlot thou art, O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth. ¹⁶For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place. ¹⁷Joined to idols is Ephraim, let him alone. ¹⁸Sour is their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly. ¹⁹Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!

Chapter 5