Hosea 4:1-7:16

The Charge Against Israel 1Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

2There is only cursing, That is, to pronounce a curse on lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.

4“But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

5You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—

6my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

7The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory for something disgraceful.

8They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.

9And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

10“They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves

11to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.

12My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.

13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

14“I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes— a people without understanding will come to ruin!

15“Though you, Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty. “Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God). And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

16The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?

17Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!

18Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways. 19A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Judgment Against Israel 1“Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.

2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.

3I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.

4“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD .

5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.

6When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

7They are unfaithful to the LORD ; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, he will devour Or Now their New Moon feasts / will devour them and their fields.

8“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God). ; lead on, Benjamin.

9Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.

10Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.

11Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

12I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.

13“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.

14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. 15Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

Israel Unrepentant 1“Come, let us return to the LORD . He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.

3Let us acknowledge the LORD ; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

4“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.

5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun. The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.

6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7As at Adam, Or Like Adam; or Like human beings they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.

8Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood.

9As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.

10I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled. 11“Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

1whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;

2but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.

3“They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.

4They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

5On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers.

6Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

7All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.

8“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.

9Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.

10Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him.

11“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless— now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.

12When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them.

13Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely.

14They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me.

15I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me. 16They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.