Hosea 4
4
God’s Case against Israel
1Hear the word of the Lord, # Hs 5:1 people of Israel,
for the Lord has a case # Hs 12:2; Mc 6:2
against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth, # Is 59:4; Jr 7:28 no faithful love, # Hs 6:6
and no knowledge of God # Hs 5:4 in the land!
2Cursing, # Hs 10:4 lying, # Hs 7:3; 10:13; 11:12 murder, # Hs 6:9 stealing, # Hs 7:1
and adultery # Hs 7:4 are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another. # Hs 6:8; 12:14
3For this reason the land mourns, # Is 24:4; 33:9
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals # Jr 4:25 and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear. # Gn 1:20-25
4But let no one dispute; # Ezk 3:26; Am 5:10,13 let no one argue,
for My case is against you priests. # Text emended; MT reads argue, and your people are like those contending with a priest # Hb obscure # Dt 17:12-13
5You will stumble by day; # Ezk 14:3; Hs 5:5
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother. # Hs 2:2,5
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. # Is 5:13
Because you have rejected knowledge, # Mal 2:7-8
I will reject you # Zch 11:8-9,15-17 from serving as My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God, # Hs 2:13; 8:14; 13:6
I will also forget your sons.
7The more they multiplied, # Hs 10:1; 13:6
the more they sinned against Me.
I # Alt Hb tradition, Syr, Tg read They will change their honor # Ancient Jewish tradition reads My honor into disgrace. # Hab 2:16
8They feed on the sin # Or sin offerings of My people; # Hs 10:13
they have an appetite for their transgressions. # Is 56:11; Mc 3:11
9The same judgment will happen
to both people and priests. # Is 24:2; Jr 5:31
I will punish them for their ways # Hs 8:13; 9:9
and repay them for their deeds.
10They will eat but not be satisfied; # Lv 26:26; Is 65:13; Mc 6:14
they will be promiscuous # Hs 7:4 but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord. # Hs 9:17
11Promiscuity, # Hs 5:4 wine, and new wine
take away one’s understanding. # Is 5:12; 28:7
12My people consult their wooden idols, # Is 44:19; Jr 2:27
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; # Hs 5:4
they act promiscuously # Hs 9:1
in disobedience to # Lit promiscuously from under their God.
13They sacrifice on the mountaintops, # Jr 3:6
and they burn offerings on the hills, # Hs 2:13; 11:2
and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, # Jr 2:20
because their shade is pleasant.
And so your daughters act promiscuously
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14I will not punish your daughters
when they act promiscuously
or your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go off with prostitutes # Hs 4:18; 7:4
and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes. # Dt 23:17
People without discernment are doomed. # Hs 5:4
Warnings for Israel and Judah
15Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don’t let Judah become guilty!
Do not go to Gilgal # Hs 9:15; 12:1
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven, # = House of Wickedness # 1Kg 12:28-29; Hs 5:8; 10:5,8
and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives! # Jr 5:2; 44:26
16For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow. # Ps 78:8
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow? # Is 5:17; 7:25
17Ephraim is attached to idols; # Hs 13:2
leave him alone! # Ps 81:12; Hs 4:4
18When their drinking is over,
they turn to promiscuity.
Israel’s leaders # Lit Her shields ; Ps 47:9; 89:18 fervently love disgrace. # Hb obscure
19A wind with its wings will carry them off, # Lit wind will bind it in its wings # Hs 12:1; 13:5
and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
Currently Selected:
Hosea 4: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Osee (Hosea) 4
4
1Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord shall enter into judgment with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land.
2Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.
3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered together.
4But yet let not any man judge: and let not a man be rebuked: for thy people are as they that contradict the priest.
5And thou shalt fall to day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee: in the night I have made thy mother to be silent.
6My people have been silent, because they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me: and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
7According to the multitude of them so have they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.
8They shall eat the sins of my people, and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity.
9And there shall be like people like priest: and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them their devices.
10And they shall eat and shall not be filled: they have committed fornication, and have not ceased: because they have forsaken the Lord in not observing his law.
11Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness take away the understanding.
12My people have consulted their stocks, and their staff hath declared unto them: for the spirit of fornication hath deceived them, and they have committed fornication against their God.
13They offered sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burnt incense upon the hills: under the oak, and the poplar, and the turpentine tree, because the shadow thereof was good: therefore shall your daughters commit fornication, and your spouses shall be adulteresses.
14I will not visit upon your daughters when they shell commit fornication, and upon your spouses when they shall commit adultery: because themselves conversed with harlots, and offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and the people that doth not understand shall be beaten.
15If thou play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Juda offend: and go ye not into Galgal, and come not up into Bethaven, and do not swear: The Lord liveth.
16For Israel hath gone astray like a wanton heifer: now will the Lord feed them, as a lamb in a spacious place.
17Ephraim is a partaker with idols, let him alone.
18Their banquet is separated, they have gone astray by fornication: they that should have protected them have loved to bring shame upon them.
19The wind hath bound them up in its wings, and they shall be confounded because of their sacrifices.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.