Hosea 4
English Standard Version
The Lord Accuses Israel
4 (A)Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for (B)the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and (C)no knowledge of God in the land;
2 (D)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and (E)bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore (F)the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
(G)and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
(H)and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 (I)Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is (J)my contention, O priest.[a]
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy (K)your mother.
6 My people are destroyed (L)for lack of knowledge;
(M)because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you (N)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
(O)I also will forget your children.
7 (P)The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
(Q)I will change their glory into shame.
8 (R)They feed on the sin[b] of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 (S)And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 (T)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 (U)take away the understanding.
12 My people (V)inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For (W)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 (X)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
(Y)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for (Z)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with (AA)cult prostitutes,
and a people (AB)without understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O (AC)Israel,
let not (AD)Judah become guilty.
(AE)Enter not into (AF)Gilgal,
nor go up to (AG)Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 (AH)Ephraim is joined to idols;
(AI)leave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
(AJ)their rulers[c] dearly love shame.
19 (AK)A wind has wrapped them[d] in its wings,
and they shall (AL)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:4 Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest
- Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
- Hosea 4:18 Hebrew shields
- Hosea 4:19 Hebrew her
Hosea 4
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Case against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.
2 You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.
3 That is why your land is in mourning,
and everyone is wasting away.
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.
4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you.[a]
5 So you will stumble in broad daylight,
and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
6 My people are being destroyed
because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
I will forget to bless your children.
7 The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
for the shame of idols.[b]
8 “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
So the priests are glad when the people sin!
9 ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
So now I will punish both priests and people
for their wicked deeds.
10 They will eat and still be hungry.
They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,
for they have deserted the Lord
11 to worship other gods.
“Wine has robbed my people
of their understanding.
12 They ask a piece of wood for advice!
They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols
has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute,
serving other gods and deserting their God.
13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
They go up into the hills to burn incense
in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.
“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 But why should I punish them
for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing,
sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand,
so you will be destroyed.
15 “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
may Judah not be guilty of such things.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,[c]
and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name.
16 Israel is stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
So should the Lord feed her
like a lamb in a lush pasture?
17 Leave Israel[d] alone,
because she is married to idolatry.
18 When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
off they go to find some prostitutes.
They love shame more than honor.[e]
19 So a mighty wind will sweep them away.
Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.
Footnotes
- 4:4 Hebrew Your people are like those with a complaint against the priests.
- 4:7 As in Syriac version and an ancient Hebrew tradition; Masoretic Text reads I will turn their glory into shame.
- 4:15 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
- 4:17 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
- 4:18 As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
