Hosea 4

1 'Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife [is] to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land,

Hear the word of Yahweh, you people of Israel. Yahweh has a lawsuit against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truthfulness or covenantal faithfulness, no knowledge of God in the land.

2 Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery — have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.

There is cursing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery. The people have broken all bounds, and bloodshed comes after bloodshed.

3 Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea — they are removed.

So the land is drying up, and everyone living in it is wasting away; the beasts in the fields and the birds in the sky, even the fish in the sea, are being taken away.

4 Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people [are] as those striving with a priest.

But do not allow anyone to bring a lawsuit; do not let anyone accuse anyone else. For it is you, the priests, whom I am accusing.

5 And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.

You priests will stumble during the day; the prophets will also stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother.

6 Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!

My people are being destroyed because of the lack of knowledge. Because you priests have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as priests to me. Because you have forgotten my law, although I am your God, I also will forget your children.

7 According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change.

The more the priests multiplied, the more they sinned against me. They exchanged their honor for shame.

8 The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul.

They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for more of their wickedness.

9 And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.

It will be the same for the people as for the priests: I will punish them all for their practices; I will repay them for their deeds.

10 And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

They will eat but not have enough; they will commit prostitution but not increase, because they have gone far away from Yahweh.

11 Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart,

They love sexual promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which have taken away their understanding.

12 My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God.

My people consult their wooden idols, and their walking sticks give them prophecies. For a mind of promiscuity has misled them, and they have acted as prostitutes instead of being faithful to their God.

13 On tops of the mountains they do sacrifice, And on the hills they make perfume, Under oak, and poplar, and terebinth, For good [is] its shade.

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars and terebinths, because the shade is good. So your daughters commit sexual immorality, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 Therefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh.

I will not punish your daughters when they choose to commit sexual immorality, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men also give themselves to the prostitutes, and they offer sacrifices so they can commit immoral acts with sacred prostitutes. So this people who does not understand will be thrown down.

15 Though a harlot thou [art], O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth.

Though you, Israel, have committed adultery, may Judah not become guilty. Do not go to Gilgal, you people; do not go up to Beth Aven, and do not swear, saying, “As Yahweh lives.”

16 For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

For Israel has behaved stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. How can Yahweh bring them to pasture like lambs in a meadow?

17 Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone.

Ephraim united himself with idols; leave him alone.

18 Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.

Even when their strong drink is gone, they continue to commit adultery; her rulers dearly love their shame.

19 Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!

The wind will wrap her up in its wings; and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.