Book of Hosea, Chapter 4
Chapter 4 of Hosea
for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or kindness,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
they break all bounds and murder follows murder.
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field,
and the birds of the air;
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.[a]
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
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.
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
they are greedy for their iniquity.
I will punish them for their ways,
and requite them for their deeds.
they shall play the harlot, but not multiply;
because they have forsaken the LORD
to cherish harlotry.
take away the understanding.
and their staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the harlot.
and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
¶ Therefore your daughters play the harlot,
and your brides commit adultery.
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with harlots,
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-a′ven,
and swear not, “As the LORD lives.”
Israel is stubborn;
can the LORD now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
let him alone.
they love shame more than their glory.[c]
and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.[e]FOOTNOTES
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