Hosea 4

1 Sones of Israel, here ye the word of the Lord, for whi doom is to the Lord with the dwelleris of erthe; for whi trewthe is not, and merci is not, and kunnyng of the Lord is not in erthe.

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 Curs, and leesyng, and manquelling, and thefte, and auowtrie flowiden, and blood touchide blood.

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

3 For this thing the erthe schal mourne, and ech that dwellith in that lond, schal be sijk, in the beeste of the feeld, and in the brid of the eir; but also the fischis of the see schulen be gaderid togidere.

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 Netheles ech man deme not, and a man be not repreuyd; for thi puple is as thei that ayen seien the prest.

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

5 And thou schalt falle to dai, and the profete also schal falle with thee; in the niyt Y made thi modir to be stille.

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

6 My puple was stille, for it hadde not kunnyng; for thou hast putte awei kunnyng, Y schal putte thee awei, that thou vse not presthod to me; and for thou hast foryete the lawe of thi God, also Y schal foryete thi sones.

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 Bi the multitude of hem, so thei synneden ayens me. Y schal chaunge the glorie of hem in to schenschipe.

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

8 Thei schulen ete the synnes of my puple, and thei schulen reise the soulis of hem to the wickidnesse of hem.

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

9 And it schal be, as the puple so the prest; and Y schal visite on hym the weies of hym, and Y schal yelde to him the thouytis of hym.

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 And thei schulen ete, and thei schulen not be fillid; thei diden fornicacioun, and ceessiden not, for thei forsoken the Lord in not kepynge.

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 Fornycacioun, and wiyn, and drunkenesse doen awei the herte.

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

12 My puple axide in his tre, and the staf therof telde to it; for the spirit of fornicacioun disseyuede hem, and thei diden fornicacioun fro her 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 On the heedis of mounteyns thei maden sacrifice, and on the litil hillis thei brenten encense vndur an ook, and a popeler, and terebynte, for the schadewe therof was good. Therfor youre douytris schulen do fornicacioun, and youre wyues schulen be auoutressis.

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 Y schal not visite on youre douytris, whanne thei don fornicacioun, and on youre wyues, whanne thei doon auowtrie; for thei lyuyden with hooris, and maden sacrifice with men turned in to wymmens condiciouns. And the puple that vndirstondith not, schal be betun.

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 If thou, Israel, doist fornicacioun, nameli Juda trespasse not; and nyle ye entre in to Galgala, and stie ye not in to Bethauen, nether swere ye, The Lord lyueth.

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 as a wielde cow Israel bowide awei; now the Lord schal fede hem as a lomb in broodnesse.

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

17 Effraym is the partener of idols, leeue thou him;

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

18 the feeste of hem is departid. Bi fornicacioun thei diden fornicacioun, the defenders therof louyden to brynge schenschipe.

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

19 The spirit boond hym in hise wyngis, and thei schulen be schent of her sacrifices.

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