Hosea 4

1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel; for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land; because there is no truth, nor kindness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2 There is false swearing, and lying, and murdering, and stealing, and committing adultery: they break the bounds, and blood toucheth on blood.

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven; yea, also the fishes of the sea shall perish.

4 Yet let no man strive, let no man reprove another: and thy people are contentious equally with the priest.

5 Therefore shalt thou stumble in the daytime, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, so will I also reject thee, that thou shalt not be a priest to me; and as thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, so will I myself also forget thy children.

7 The more they increased, the more did they sin against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

8 The sin-offering of my people do they eat, and for their iniquity doth the soul of each one of them long.

9 Therefore shall the same befall both people and priest: and I will punish every one of them for his ways, and recompense every one for his doings.

10 And they will eat, and shall not be satisfied; they will commit lewdness, and they shall not increase; because the Lord have they forsaken [not] keeping [his law].

11 Lewdness and wine and new wine take away the heart.

12 My people ask counsel of their stick of wood, and their staff shall tell them [the future]: for the spirit of lewdness hath caused them to err, and they are gone astray unfaithful to their God.

13 Upon the tops of the mountains do they sacrifice, and upon the hills burn they incense, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because their shadow is good: therefore will your daughters play the harlot, and your daughter-in-law will commit adultery.

14 I cannot inflict punishment on your daughters when they play the harlot, nor on your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they themselves associate with lewd women, and with harlots do they sacrifice: and so doth the people that doth not understand stumble.

15 Yet though thou play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah offend: and come not ye unto Gilgal, nor go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As the Lord liveth.

16 For like an untamable cow is Israel disobedient: now would the Lord have fed them as a sheep in a wide pasture.

17 Ephraim is bound to idols: let him alone.

18 Their drinking bout will come to an end: while they are so often guilty of lewdness, their rulers love, prepare themselves but shame.

19 The wind seizeth fast on them with its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.