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Hosea 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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The Lord Accuses Israel

Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:1 - Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,
for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:2 - there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:3 - Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:4 - Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:5 - You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:6 - My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:7 - The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:8 - They feed on the sin[fn] of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:9 - And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:10 - They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the LORD
to cherish
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:11 - whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:12 - My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:13 - They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:14 - I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:15 - Though you play the whore, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the LORD lives.”
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:16 - Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the LORD now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:17 - Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:18 - When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulers[fn] dearly love shame.
Unchecked Copy BoxHos 4:19 - A wind has wrapped them[fn] in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
ESV Footnotes
Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest
Or sin offering
Hebrew shields
Hebrew her
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

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

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