Hosea 4-6
Christian Standard Bible
God’s Case against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord,(A) people of Israel,
for the Lord has a case(B)
against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth,(C) no faithful love,(D)
and no knowledge of God(E) in the land!
2 Cursing,(F) lying,(G) murder,(H) stealing,(I)
and adultery(J) are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another.(K)
3 For this reason the land mourns,(L)
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals(M) and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.(N)
4 But let no one dispute;(O) let no one argue,
for my case is against you priests.[a][b](P)
5 You will stumble by day;(Q)
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother.(R)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.(S)
Because you have rejected knowledge,(T)
I will reject you(U) from serving as my priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,(V)
I will also forget your sons.
7 The more they multiplied,(W)
the more they sinned against me.
I[c] will change their[d] honor into disgrace.(X)
8 They feed on the sin[e] of my people;(Y)
they have an appetite for their iniquity.(Z)
9 The same judgment will happen
to both people and priests.(AA)
I will punish them for their ways(AB)
and repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat but not be satisfied;(AC)
they will be promiscuous(AD) but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.(AE)
11 Promiscuity,(AF) wine, and new wine
take away one’s understanding.(AG)
12 My people consult their wooden idols,(AH)
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;(AI)
they act promiscuously(AJ)
in disobedience to[f] their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,(AK)
and they burn offerings on the hills,(AL)
and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,(AM)
because their shade is pleasant.
And so your daughters act promiscuously
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I 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(AN)
and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.(AO)
People without discernment are doomed.(AP)
Warnings for Israel and Judah
15 Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don’t let Judah become guilty!
Do not go to Gilgal(AQ)
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,[g](AR)
and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!(AS)
16 For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.(AT)
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?(AU)
17 Ephraim is attached to idols;(AV)
leave him alone!(AW)
18 When their drinking is over,
they turn to promiscuity.
Israel’s leaders[h] fervently love disgrace.[i]
19 A wind with its wings will carry them off,[j](AX)
and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
5 Hear this, priests!(AY)
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah(AZ)
and a net spread out on Tabor.
2 Rebels(BA) are deeply involved in slaughter;(BB)
I will be a punishment for all of them.[k]
3 I know Ephraim,(BC)
and Israel is not hidden from me.
For now, Ephraim,(BD)
you have acted promiscuously;
Israel is defiled.
4 Their actions do not allow them
to return to their God,(BE)
for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,(BF)
and they do not know the Lord.(BG)
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.[l](BH)
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their iniquity;(BI)
even Judah will stumble with them.(BJ)
6 They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord(BK)
but do not find him;(BL)
he has withdrawn from them.(BM)
7 They betrayed the Lord;(BN)
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.(BO)
Now the New Moon(BP) will devour them
along with their fields.(BQ)
8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,(BR)
the trumpet in Ramah;(BS)
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:(BT)
Look behind you,[m] Benjamin!(BU)
9 Ephraim will become a desolation(BV)
on the day of punishment;(BW)
I announce what is certain
among the tribes of Israel.(BX)
10 The princes of Judah are like those
who move boundary markers;(BY)
I will pour out my fury(BZ) on them like water.(CA)
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,(CB)
for he is determined to follow what is worthless.[n]
12 So I am like rot to Ephraim(CC)
and like decay to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria(CD)
and sent a delegation to the great king.[o](CE)
But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.(CF)
14 For I am like a lion to Ephraim(CG)
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.(CH)
I will carry them off,
and no one can rescue them.(CI)
15 I will depart and return to my place
until they recognize their guilt and seek my face;(CJ)
they will search for me in their distress.(CK)
A Call to Repentance
6 Come, let’s return to the Lord.(CL)
For he has torn us,(CM)
and he will heal us;(CN)
he has wounded us,
and he will bind up our wounds.(CO)
2 He will revive us after two days,(CP)
and on the third day he will raise us up
so we can live in his presence.(CQ)
3 Let’s strive to know the Lord.(CR)
His appearance is as sure as the dawn.(CS)
He will come to us like the rain,(CT)
like the spring showers that water the land.
The Lord’s First Lament
4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?(CU)
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist(CV)
and like the early dew that vanishes.
5 This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;[p](CW)
I have killed them with the words from my mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.[q]
6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God(CX) rather than burnt offerings.(CY)
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(DB)
tracked with bloody footprints.(DC)
9 Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,(DD)
a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.(DE)
They commit atrocities.(DF)
10 I have seen something horrible(DG) in the house of Israel:
Ephraim’s promiscuity is there;(DH) Israel is defiled.
Footnotes
- 4:4 Text emended; MT reads argue, and your people are like those contending with a priest
- 4:4 Hb obscure
- 4:7 Alt Hb tradition, Syr, Tg read They
- 4:7 Alt Hb tradition reads my
- 4:8 Or sin offerings
- 4:12 Lit promiscuously from under
- 4:15 = House of Wickedness
- 4:18 Lit Her shields; Ps 47:9; 89:18
- 4:18 Hb obscure
- 4:19 Lit wind will bind it in its wings
- 5:2 Hb obscure
- 5:5 Lit against his face
- 5:8 Or We will follow you
- 5:11 Or follow a command; Hb obscure
- 5:13 Or to King Yareb
- 6:5 Or have cut down the prophets
- 6:5 LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads Your judgments go out as light
- 6:7 Or they, as at Adam, or they, like men,
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