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 Century Version
The Lord’s Word Against Israel
4 People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.
The Lord has this
against you who live in the land:
“The people are not true, not loyal to God,
nor do those who live in the land even know him.
2 Cursing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery are everywhere.
One murder follows another.
3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all its people are dying.
Even the wild animals and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying.
God’s Case Against the Priests
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 in the day,
and your prophets will be ruined with you in the night.
I will also destroy your mother.[a]
6 My people will be destroyed,
because they have no knowledge.
You 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 forget your children.
7 The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
I will take away their honor
and give them shame.
8 Since the priests live off the sin offerings of the people,
they want the people to sin more and more.
9 The priests are as wrong as the people,
and I will punish them both for what they have done.
I will repay them for the wrong they have done.
10 “They will eat
but not have enough;
they will have sexual relations with the prostitutes,
but they will not have children,
because they have left the Lord
to give themselves to 11 prostitution,
to old and new wine,
which take away their ability to understand.
God’s Case Against the People
12 “My people ask wooden idols for advice;
they ask those sticks of wood to advise them!
Like prostitutes, they have chased after other gods
and have left their own God.
13 They make sacrifices on the tops of the mountains.
They burn offerings on the hills,
under oaks, poplars, and other trees,
because their shade is nice.
So your daughters become prostitutes,
and your daughters-in-law are guilty of adultery.
14 “But I will not punish your daughters
for becoming prostitutes,
nor your daughters-in-law
for their sins of adultery.
I will not punish them,
because the men have sexual relations with prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with the temple prostitutes.
A foolish people will be ruined.
15 “Israel, you act like a prostitute,
but do not be guilty toward the Lord.
Don’t go to Gilgal
or go up to Beth Aven.[b]
Don’t make promises,
saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives . . .’
16 The people of Israel are stubborn
like a stubborn young cow.
Now the Lord will feed them
like lambs in the open country.
17 The Israelites have chosen to worship idols,
so leave them alone.
18 When they finish their drinking,
they completely give themselves to being prostitutes;
they love these disgraceful ways.
19 They will be swept away as if by a whirlwind,
and their sacrifices will bring them only shame.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
