Osee 4

1 Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Listen to the word of the Lord, sons of Israel, for the Lord is judge of the inhabitants of the land. Yet there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God, in the land.

2 Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery abound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

Slander, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and bloodshed has brought more bloodshed.

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:

Because of this, the land will mourn, and all who dwell in it will languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. And the fishes of the sea also will be gathered together.

4 that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my people are as a priest spoken against.

So, truly, let each and every one not judge, and let no man be accused, for your people are just like those who speak against the priesthood.

5 Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with you shall fall: I have compared your mother to night.

And you will be ruined on this day, and now the prophet will be ruined with you. In the night, I have made your mother to be silent.

6 My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall not minister as priest to me: and [as] you has forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

My people have become silent because they had no knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will drive you away; you do not perform the duties of the priesthood for me, and you have forgotten the law of your God, and so I will forget your sons.

7 According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn their glory into shame.

According to the multitude of them, so have they sinned against me. I will change their glory into disgrace.

8 They will devour the sins of my people, and will set their hearts on their iniquities.

They will devour the sins of my people, and they will lift up their souls towards their iniquity.

9 And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.

And, just as it is with the people, so will it be with the priest; and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them for their intentions.

10 And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

And they will eat and not be satisfied. They have been committing fornication, and they did not cease. Since they have abandoned the Lord, they will not be safeguarded.

11 The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and strong drink.

Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness, have taken away their heart.

12 They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom, and gone grievously a-whoring from their God.

My people have inquired of their stave, and their staff has announced to them. For the spirit of fornication has deceived them, and they have been fornicating before their God.

13 They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring, and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.

They have offered sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burnt incense on the hills, under the oak, and the poplar, and the terebinth tree, because its shadow was good; therefore, your daughters will commit fornication and your spouses will be adulteresses.

14 And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication, nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery: for they themselves mingled themselves with harlots, and sacrificed with polluted ones, and the people that understood not entangled itself with a harlot.

I will not send afflictions on your daughters, when they will commit fornication, nor on your spouses, when they will commit adultery, because you yourselves have associated with harlots and have offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and because the people who do not understand will be defeated.

15 But you, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go you not, [men of] Juda, to Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.

If you commit fornication, Israel, at least let Judah not commit offenses; and do not be willing to enter into Gilgal, nor to ascend to Bethaven, and neither should you swear, “As the Lord lives.”

16 For Israel was maddened like a mad heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a wide place.

For Israel has gone astray like a wanton heifer; so now the Lord will pasture them like a young lamb in a wide expanse.

17 Ephraim, joined with idols, has laid stumbling blocks in his own way.

Ephraim participates in idolatry, so send him away.

18 He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously gone a-whoring: they have loved dishonour through her insolence.

Their feasting has been set aside; they have committed fornication after fornication. They love to bring disgrace to their protectors.

19 You are a blast of wind in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.

The wind has fastened them to its wings, and they will be confounded because of their sacrifices.