A complaint against the people and the priests of Israel.

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [a]hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and whoring, they break out, and [b]blood toucheth blood.

Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall be cut off, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven, and also the fishes of the sea shall be taken away.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:1 Because the people would not obey the admonitions of the Prophet, he citeth them before the judgment seat of God, against whom they chiefly offended, Isa. 7:13; Zech. 12:10; Mic. 6:1, 2.
  2. Hosea 4:2 In every place appeareth a liberty to most heinous vices, so that one followeth in the neck of another.

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)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on