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以色列人的罪行

以色列人哪!你們要聽耶和華的話。

耶和華要與這地的居民爭辯,

因為在這地上沒有誠實,沒有慈愛,

也沒有認識 神的知識;

只有起假誓、撒謊、殘殺、偷盜、姦淫、行強暴,以至流人血事件相繼而來。

因此,這地必悲哀,

地上所有的居民、

田野的走獸、空中的飛鳥都必衰微、枯萎,連海裡的魚也要滅亡。

祭司的罪行

雖然這樣,人人都不必爭論,不要彼此指責。

你的民像爭辯的祭司一樣。

白天你要跌倒,

晚上先知也必與你一同跌倒;

我要毀滅你的母親。

我的子民因無知識而滅亡;

因為你拒絕了知識,

我必拒絕你,不讓你作我的祭司;

因為你忘掉了你 神的律法,

我也必忘記你的子孫。

祭司越增多,就越發得罪我,

我必把他們的尊榮變為恥辱。

他們藉著我的子民犯罪來養活自己,

渴望他們多有罪孽。

所以,祭司怎樣,人民也怎樣。

我必按他們的行為懲罰他們,

照他們的行為報應他們。

10 他們吃,卻吃不飽;

行淫,人數卻不會增多;

因為他們離棄了耶和華,不遵守他的命令。

拜偶像的罪行

11 淫行、酒和新酒,把人的心奪走了。

12 我的子民求問木頭,由木杖引導他們,

因為淫蕩的靈使他們走迷了路,

他們就行淫不順從 神。

13 他們在山頂上獻祭,

在岡陵上的橡樹、楊樹和栗樹之下獻祭燒香,

因為樹蔭美好。

所以你們的女兒行淫亂,

你們的兒媳犯姦淫。

14 我卻不因你們的女兒行淫亂,

也不因你們的兒媳犯姦淫而懲罰她們,

因為你們男人自己離群與娼妓在一起,

又與廟妓一同獻祭。

這無知的人民必遭毀滅。

耶和華的警告

15 以色列啊!你雖然行淫,

猶大卻不可犯罪,

不要往吉甲去,

不要上到伯.亞文,

也不要指著永活的耶和華起誓。

16 以色列倔強,

好像倔強的母牛,

現在耶和華怎樣牧放他們,

好像牧放寬闊草場上的羊羔呢?

17 以法蓮和偶像連在一起,

任憑他吧!

18 他們醉意全消以後,

就不斷行淫;

他們的官長最喜愛恥辱的事。

19 風要把他們裹在翅膀裡捲去,

他們必因自己所獻的祭祀而蒙受羞辱。

The Lord accuses Israel

Israelites, listen to the Lord's message! The Lord accuses the people who live in Israel of these bad things:[a]

‘Nobody in the land of Israel is faithful. They have no true love. They do not want to know God. They curse people, they tell lies, they murder people, they rob people. They are guilty of adultery.[b] They continue to kill more and more people. Because of this, the land will become like a desert. Everyone who lives there will become weak. Everything will die: the wild animals, the birds, and even the fish in the sea.

Do not argue among yourselves or accuse one another. It is you priests who are guilty. You are always falling over. In the day and in the night, you trip and you fall.[c] The false prophets are the same as you. So I will destroy Israel, your mother. The people do not know me. Because of that, they will come to an end. You refuse to respect my authority, so I will remove you as my priests. You refuse to obey the law of your God, so I will refuse to accept your children as my priests.

The more priests that there are among you, the more sins they do against me. They should have received honour as priests, but I will make them ashamed. They get food to eat when the people bring their sin offerings to them. So the priests are happy when the people do bad things, because they get more food to eat. The people do whatever the priests do. I will punish them all for the bad things that they do. I will give them what their sins deserve. 10 They will eat, but they will still be hungry. They will have sex with prostitutes, but they will still have no children. This will happen because they have turned away from the Lord. 11 Instead, they worship other gods.

My people cannot think properly because they drink too much old wine and new wine. 12 They ask wooden idols to tell them what to do! A stick tells them what will happen in the future! They have turned away from me and they have lost their way. They have not been faithful to me, their God, as a prostitute is not faithful to her husband. 13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains. They burn offerings on the hills. They do this under the oak trees, the poplar trees and the other big trees. They enjoy the shade under those trees. As a result, your daughters serve the false gods as prostitutes. Your sons' wives are also guilty of adultery. 14 But I will not punish them for those sins, because the men are just as guilty! They sleep with prostitutes. They join with prostitutes to offer sacrifices to the false gods.

All of this shows that people who cannot think properly destroy themselves.’

The people of Judah must not copy Israel's sins

15 You people of Israel are not faithful to the Lord. But do not let the people of Judah become guilty of the same sins. Do not travel to Gilgal to worship! Do not go to Beth Aven![d] Do not say, ‘I promise this is true, as surely as the Lord lives’. 16 Israel's people have turned against the Lord. They are like a young cow that refuses to obey its owner. So how can the Lord take care of them? Will he put them in a big field to eat the grass like lambs? 17 The people of Israel enjoy their idols. Do not go near them! 18 After they have drunk enough wine, they are happy to sleep with prostitutes. They enjoy doing things that should make them ashamed. 19 Now a strong wind will pick them up and take them away. They will become ashamed because of their sacrifices to false gods.[e]

Footnotes

  1. 4:1 It is like God is accusing his people in a court of law. They have not been faithful to him or obeyed his covenant with them.
  2. 4:2 Adultery is when a married person has sex with a person that they are not married to
  3. 4:5 When they fall over, that is a picture. It shows that they do not know what they should be doing. They have lost their way.
  4. 4:15 Hosea's message is sometimes like Amos's message. See Amos 5:5. They did not want Israel's people to worship at Gilgal or at Bethel. Gilgal was an important place for the Israelites. They stopped there after they crossed the Jordan River. See Joshua 4:19. Hosea calls Bethel ‘Beth Aven’. Bethel means ‘House of God’ but Beth Aven means ‘House of wicked things’.
  5. 4:19 It is time for God to judge them.

The Charge Against Israel

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
    because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
    against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
    no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)
There is only cursing,[a] lying(F) and murder,(G)
    stealing(H) and adultery;(I)
they break all bounds,
    and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(J)
Because of this the land dries up,(K)
    and all who live in it waste away;(L)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the fish in the sea are swept away.(M)

“But let no one bring a charge,
    let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
    who bring charges against a priest.(N)
You stumble(O) day and night,
    and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(P)
    my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(Q)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(R) of your God,
    I also will ignore your children.
The more priests there were,
    the more they sinned against me;
    they exchanged their glorious God[b](S) for something disgraceful.(T)
They feed on the sins of my people
    and relish their wickedness.(U)
And it will be: Like people, like priests.(V)
    I will punish both of them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.(W)

10 “They will eat but not have enough;(X)
    they will engage in prostitution(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(Z) the Lord
    to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AA)
old wine(AB) and new wine
    take away their understanding.(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AD)
    and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AE)
A spirit of prostitution(AF) leads them astray;(AG)
    they are unfaithful(AH) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
    and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AI) poplar and terebinth,
    where the shade is pleasant.(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AK)
    and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AL)

14 “I will not punish your daughters
    when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
    when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(AM)
    and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AN)
    a people without understanding(AO) will come to ruin!(AP)

15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
    do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;(AQ)
    do not go up to Beth Aven.[c](AR)
    And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(AT)
    like a stubborn heifer.(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
    like lambs(AV) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
    leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
    they continue their prostitution;
    their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(AW) will sweep them away,
    and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(AX)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
  2. Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
  3. Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).