Hosea 4:4-11

International Children’s Bible

⁴ “No one should accuse
    or blame another person.
Don’t blame the people, you priests,
    when they quarrel with you.
⁵ You will be ruined one of these days.
    And your prophets will be ruined with you one of these nights.
I will also destroy your mother, the nation of Israel.
⁶ My people will be destroyed
    because they have no knowledge.
You priests have refused to learn.
    So I will refuse to let you be priests to me.
You have forgotten the teachings of your God.
    So I will reject your children.
⁷ The more priests there are,
    the more they sin against me.
I will take away their honor
    and give them nothing but shame.
⁸ The priests live off the sin offerings of the people.
    So they want the people to sin more and more.
⁹ The priests are as wrong as the people.
    I will punish them both for what they have done.
    I will repay them for the wrong they have done.

¹¹ “Sexual sins, old wine and new wine
    take away my people’s ability to understand.