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 mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Hear the word of the Lord, you 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 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

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

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yes, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

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 Yet let no man contend, nor reprove another: for thy people [are] as they that contend with the priest.

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

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

Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with you shall fall: I have compared your mother to night.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

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

7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into shame.

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

8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

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

9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

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 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall be guilty of lewdness, and shall not increase: because they have ceased to take heed to 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 Lewdness and wine and new wine take away the heart.

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

12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of lewdness hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone astray from under 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 upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shade of them is agreeable: therefore your daughters shall be guilty of lewdness, and your spouses shall commit 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 are guilty of lewdness, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for they themselves are separated with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people [that] doth not understand shall fall.

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 thou, Israel, playest the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye to Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.

But you, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go you 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 slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

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: let him alone.

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

18 Their drink is sour: they have been guilty of lewd deeds continually: her rulers [with] shame do love, Give ye.

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

19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

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