Hosea 4
1 Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has an accusation against the inhabitants of the land! “There is no faithfulness, no loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.
'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,
2 Instead there is only cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. They commit violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery — have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.
3 As a result the land dries up, and everyone who lives there is wasting away, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea—they are all dying.
Therefore 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.
4 But no one should accuse or blame anyone else. My quarrel is with you the priests—you are the ones responsible.
Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people [are] as those striving with a priest.
5 Consequently you will stumble in daylight, and the prophet will stumble together with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother.
And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.
6 My people are dying because they don't know me. Because you have refused to know me, I refuse to accept you as my priests. You have forgotten my teachings, so I will forget your children.
Cut 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!
7 The more there were of them, the more they sinned against me, so I will change their glory into shame.
According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, greedy for their iniquity.
The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul.
9 So it will be for the people like the priests: I will punish them for what they have done, repaying them for their actions.
And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.
10 They will eat, but they will not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution, but they will not prosper because they have given up on the Lord to go and prostitute themselves to other gods.
And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.
11 They destroy their minds with old wine and new wine.
Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart,
12 My people consult their wooden idols and their divining rods give them answers, for a spirit of prostitution makes them go astray. Prostituting themselves, they have deserted their God.
My 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.
13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of mountains; they burn incense in the hills under the oak, poplar, and terebinth trees where the shade is pleasant. That's the reason why your daughters practice prostitution and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
On 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.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they practice prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because you men visit whores and sacrifice with temple prostitutes. A people who lack understanding end up in disaster.
Therefore 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.
15 Though you, Israel, have become a prostitute, may Judah not offend in the same way and not enter Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, nor swear saying, ‘the Lord lives.’
Though 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.
16 For Israel is as stubborn as a stubborn cow. Should the Lord then take care of them like a lamb in a wide pasture?
For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 Ephraim is bewitched by idols, so leave him alone!
Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone.
18 Once the leaders finish drinking, they go off and find prostitutes to sleep with. They love their shameful acts more than honor.
Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.
19 A wind will carry them away; they will be ashamed of their pagan worship.
Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!
