Hosea 4

The  Lord Accuses Israel

1  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. ▼
▼ Or  for your people are like those who contend with the priest

 5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy l your mother.
 6 My people are destroyed m for lack of knowledge;
n because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you o from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
p I also will forget your children.
 7  q The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
r I will change their glory into shame.
 8  s They feed on the sin ▼
▼ Or  sin offering
 of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
 9  u And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
 10  v 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 w take away the understanding.
 12 My people x inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For y a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
 13  z They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
aa 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 ab the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with ac cult prostitutes,
and a people ad without understanding shall come to ruin.
 15  Though you play the whore, O ae Israel,
let not af Judah become guilty.
ag Enter not into ah Gilgal,
nor go up to ai 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  aj Ephraim is joined to idols;
ak leave him alone.
 18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
al their rulers ▼
▼ Hebrew shields
 dearly love shame.
 19  an A wind has wrapped them ▼
▼ Hebrew her
 in its wings,
and they shall ap be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Copyright information for ESV