Hosea 4:4-5

English Standard Version

^4 (A)Yet let no one contend,
    and let none accuse,
    for with you is ^(B)my contention, O priest.^[a]
5 You shall stumble by day;
    the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
    and I will destroy ^(C)your mother.
⁶ My people are destroyed ^(D)for lack of knowledge;
    ^(E)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you ^(F)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    ^(G)I also will forget your children.

^7 (H)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    ^(I)I will change their glory into shame.
^8 (J)They feed on the sin^[b] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
^9 (K)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
^10 (L)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 ^(M)take away the understanding.
¹² My people ^(N)inquire of a piece of wood,
    and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^(O)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
    and they have left their God to play the whore.
^13 (P)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
    and burn offerings on the hills,
^(Q)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 ^(R)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
    and sacrifice with ^(S)cult prostitutes,
and a people ^(T)without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵ Though you play the whore, O ^(U)Israel,
    let not ^(V)Judah become guilty.
^(W)Enter not into ^(X)Gilgal,
    nor go up to ^(Y)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 (Z)Ephraim is joined to idols;
    ^(AA)leave him alone.
¹⁸ When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    ^(AB)their rulers^[c] dearly love shame.
^19 (AC)A wind has wrapped them^[d] in its wings,
    and they shall ^(AD)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

^3 (AK)I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
    Israel is defiled.
^4 (AL)Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
For ^(AM)the spirit of whoredom is within them,
    and they know not the Lord.