My people are destroyed (A)for lack of knowledge;
    (B)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you (C)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    (D)I also will forget your children.

(E)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    (F)I will change their glory into shame.
(G)They feed on the sin[a] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
(H)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
10 (I)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
    they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
    to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
    which (J)take away the understanding.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering

    my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(A)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(B) 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[a](C) for something disgraceful.(D)
They feed on the sins of my people
    and relish their wickedness.(E)
And it will be: Like people, like priests.(F)
    I will punish both of them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.(G)

10 “They will eat but not have enough;(H)
    they will engage in prostitution(I) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(J) the Lord
    to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(K)
old wine(L) and new wine
    take away their understanding.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory