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Hosea 4 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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The LORD’s Case against Israel

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:1

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:1 - Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel!
The LORD has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:2

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:2 - You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:3

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:3 - That is why your land is in mourning,
and everyone is wasting away.
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:4

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:4 - “Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:5

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:5 - So you will stumble in broad daylight,
and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
And I will destroy Israel, your mother.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:6

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:6 - My people are being destroyed
because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
I will forget to bless your children.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:7

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:7 - The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
for the shame of idols.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:8

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:8 - “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
So the priests are glad when the people sin!

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:9

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:9 - ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
So now I will punish both priests and people
for their wicked deeds.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:10

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:10 - They will eat and still be hungry.
They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,
for they have deserted the LORD

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:11

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:11 - to worship other gods.
“Wine has robbed my people
of their understanding.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:12

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:12 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:13

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:13 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:14

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:14 - 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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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:15

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:15 - “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
may Judah avoid such guilt.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,[fn]
even though they take oaths there in the LORD’s name.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:16

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:16 - Israel is stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
So should the LORD feed her
like a lamb in a lush pasture?

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:17

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:17 - Leave Israel[fn] alone,
because she is married to idolatry.

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:18

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:18 - When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
off they go to find some prostitutes.
They love shame more than honor.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Hos 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:19 - So a mighty wind will sweep them away.
Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew Your people are like those with a complaint against the priests.
As in Syriac version and an ancient Hebrew tradition; Masoretic Text reads I will turn their glory into shame.
Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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