Shared Word Translation
Hosea 4
The LORD Has a Case against the Land
Hear the word of the LORD, children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no faithfulness,
no steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God
in the land.
Swearing and lying,
murder and stealing
and adultery break out;
bloodshed touches bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
with the animals of the field
and the birds of the heavens;
even the fish of the sea
are taken away.
My People Are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge
Yet let no one contend,
and let no one accuse,
for your people are like those
who contend with a priest.
You will stumble by day,
and the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge.
Because you rejected knowledge,
I reject you from serving as priest to me.
Since you forgot the instruction of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Priests Feed on the Sin of the People
The more they multiplied,
the more they sinned against me;
I will exchange their glory
for shame.
They feed on the sin of my people
and lift up their appetite
toward their guilt.
And it will be:
like people, like priest.
I will attend to them
for their ways
and repay them
for their deeds.
They will eat
but not be satisfied;
they will prostitute themselves
but not multiply,
because they have abandoned
giving heed to the LORD.
Wine and Prostitution Take Away the Heart
Prostitution, wine, and new wine
take away the heart.
My people inquire of their wood,
and their staff gives them an answer.
For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray,
and they prostitute themselves
away from their God.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn incense on the hills,
under oak and poplar and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
I will not attend to your daughters
when they prostitute themselves,
or your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes.
A people without understanding
will be ruined.
Do Not Go Up to Beth-Aven
Though you prostitute yourself, Israel,
let Judah not become guilty.
Do not come to Gilgal,
and do not go up to Beth-Aven,
and do not swear,
“As the LORD lives!”
For Israel is stubborn
like a stubborn heifer.
Can the LORD now pasture them
like a lamb in a broad place?
Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
Their drink is gone;
they give themselves to prostitution.
Her rulers dearly love shame.
A wind has wrapped her in its wings,
and they will be ashamed
because of their sacrifices.