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
    and sacrifice with shrine-prostitutes –
    a people without understanding will come to ruin!

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

‘Do not go to Gilgal;
    do not go up to Beth Aven.[a]
    And do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”
16 The Israelites are stubborn,
    like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the Lord pasture them
    like lambs in a meadow?

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).