VerseAI

NIV

Hosea 4

  1. 1<pb/><t>Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,</t> <t>because the LORD has a charge to bring</t> <t>against you who live in the land:</t> <t>“There is no faithfulness, no love,</t> <t>no acknowledgment of God in the land.</t>
  2. 2<t>There is only cursing,<f>[15]</f> lying and murder,</t> <t>stealing and adultery;</t> <t>they break all bounds,</t> <t>and bloodshed follows bloodshed.</t>
  3. 3<t>Because of this the land dries up,</t> <t>and all who live in it waste away;</t> <t>the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky</t> <t>and the fish in the sea are swept away. <pb/></t>
  4. 4<t>“But let no one bring a charge,</t> <t>let no one accuse another,</t> <t>for your people are like those</t> <t>who bring charges against a priest.</t>
  5. 5<t>You stumble day and night,</t> <t>and the prophets stumble with you.</t> <t>So I will destroy your mother—</t>
  6. 6<t>my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. <pb/>“Because you have rejected knowledge,</t> <t>I also reject you as my priests;</t> <t>because you have ignored the law of your God,</t> <t>I also will ignore your children.</t>
  7. 7<t>The more priests there were,</t> <t>the more they sinned against me;</t> <t>they exchanged their glorious God<f>[16]</f> for something disgraceful.</t>
  8. 8<t>They feed on the sins of my people</t> <t>and relish their wickedness.</t>
  9. 9<t>And it will be: Like people, like priests.</t> <t>I will punish both of them for their ways</t> <t>and repay them for their deeds. <pb/></t>
  10. 10<t>“They will eat but not have enough;</t> <t>they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,</t> <t>because they have deserted the LORD</t> <t>to give themselves</t>
  11. 11<t>to prostitution;</t> <t>old wine and new wine</t> <t>take away their understanding.</t>
  12. 12<t>My people consult a wooden idol,</t> <t>and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.</t> <t>A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;</t> <t>they are unfaithful to their God.</t>
  13. 13<t>They sacrifice on the mountaintops</t> <t>and burn offerings on the hills,</t> <t>under oak, poplar and terebinth,</t> <t>where the shade is pleasant.</t> <t>Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution</t> <t>and your daughters-in-law to adultery. <pb/></t>
  14. 14<t>“I will not punish your daughters</t> <t>when they turn to prostitution,</t> <t>nor your daughters-in-law</t> <t>when they commit adultery,</t> <t>because the men themselves consort with harlots</t> <t>and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—</t> <t>a people without understanding will come to ruin! <pb/></t>
  15. 15<t>“Though you, Israel, commit adultery,</t> <t>do not let Judah become guilty. <pb/>“Do not go to Gilgal;</t> <t>do not go up to Beth Aven.<f>[17]</f></t> <t>And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’</t>
  16. 16<t>The Israelites are stubborn,</t> <t>like a stubborn heifer.</t> <t>How then can the LORD pasture them</t> <t>like lambs in a meadow?</t>
  17. 17<t>Ephraim is joined to idols;</t> <t>leave him alone!</t>
  18. 18<t>Even when their drinks are gone,</t> <t>they continue their prostitution;</t> <t>their rulers dearly love shameful ways.</t>
  19. 19<t>A whirlwind will sweep them away,</t> <t>and their sacrifices will bring them shame.</t>