Hosea 4
New King James Version
God’s Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a (A)charge[a] against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or (B)knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed [b]upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore (C)the land will mourn;
And (D)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those (E)who contend with the priest.
5 Therefore you shall stumble (F)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 (G)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
(H)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
(I)I[c] will change [d]their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their [e]heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: (J)like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And [f]reward them for their deeds.
10 For (K)they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.
The Idolatry of Israel
11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine (L)enslave the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their (M)wooden idols,
And their [g]staff informs them.
For (N)the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
13 (O)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
(P)Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a (Q)ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
15 “Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
(R)Do not come up to Gilgal,
Nor go up to (S)Beth[h] Aven,
(T)Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—
16 “For Israel (U)is stubborn
Like a stubborn calf;
Now the Lord will let them forage
Like a lamb in [i]open country.
17 “Ephraim is joined to idols,
(V)Let him alone.
18 Their drink [j]is rebellion,
They commit harlotry continually.
(W)Her [k]rulers [l]dearly love dishonor.
19 (X)The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And (Y)they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:1 A legal complaint
- Hosea 4:2 Lit. touching
- Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; scribal tradition, Syr., Tg. They will change
- Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; scribal tradition My glory
- Hosea 4:8 Desires
- Hosea 4:9 repay
- Hosea 4:12 Diviner’s rod
- Hosea 4:15 Lit. House of Idolatry or Wickedness
- Hosea 4:16 Lit. a large place
- Hosea 4:18 Or has turned aside
- Hosea 4:18 Lit. shields
- Hosea 4:18 Heb. difficult; a Jewish tradition shamefully love, ‘Give!’
Hosea 4
Young's Literal Translation
4 `Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife [is] to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land,
2 Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery -- have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.
3 Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea -- they are removed.
4 Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people [are] as those striving with a priest.
5 And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.
6 Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!
7 According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change.
8 The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul.
9 And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.
10 And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.
11 Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart,
12 My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God.
13 On tops of the mountains they do sacrifice, And on the hills they make perfume, Under oak, and poplar, and terebinth, For good [is] its shade.
14 Therefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh.
15 Though a harlot thou [art], O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth.
16 For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone.
18 Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.
19 Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
