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12     My people,
consult their wooden idols,[a]
    and their divining rod gives them oracles;
because a spirit of whoredom led them astray,
    and they played the whore from under their God.[b]
13 On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice,
    and on the hills they make offerings,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
    because their[c] shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
    and all your daughters-in-law[d] commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters[e] when they play the whore,
    or your daughters-in-law[f] when they commit adultery;
because they go aside with whores,
    and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes,
        a people that does not understand comes to ruin.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:12 Literally “their wood”
  2. Hosea 4:12 That is, “they played the whore forsaking their God”; See Ezek 23:5
  3. Hosea 4:13 Hebrew “its”
  4. Hosea 4:13 Or “brides”
  5. Hosea 4:14 Literally “I will not visit sins upon your daughters”
  6. Hosea 4:14 Or “brides”

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.

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