Hosea 4

1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery abound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.

Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:

4 But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.

that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my people are as a priest spoken against.

5 You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—

Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with thee shall fall: I have compared thy mother unto night.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not minister as priest to me: and [as] thou has forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.

According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.

They will devour the sins of my people, and will set their hearts on their iniquities.

9 And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.

10 They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

11 Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.

The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and strong drink.

12 My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.

They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom, and gone grievously a-whoring from their God.

13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring, and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication, nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery: for they themselves mingled themselves with harlots, and sacrificed with polluted ones, and the people that understood not entangled itself with a harlot.

15 Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

But thou, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go ye not, [men of] Juda, to Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.

16 For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?

For Israel was maddened like a mad heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a wide place.

17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!

Ephraim, joined with idols, has laid stumbling-blocks in his own way.

18 When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.

He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously gone a-whoring: they have loved dishonour through her insolence.

19 The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Thou art a blast of wind in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.