Hosea 4 :: New International Version (NIV)

The Charge Against Israel

Hos 4:1Hear 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.

Hos 4:2

Hos 4:2There is only cursing,[fn] lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hos 4:3

Hos 4:3Because 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.

Hos 4:4

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

Hos 4:5

Hos 4:5You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—

Hos 4:6

Hos 4:6my 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.

Hos 4:7

Hos 4:7The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God[fn] for something disgraceful.

Hos 4:8

Hos 4:8They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.

Hos 4:9

Hos 4:9And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

Hos 4:10

Hos 4:10“They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves

Hos 4:11

Hos 4:11to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.

Hos 4:12

Hos 4:12My 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.

Hos 4:13

Hos 4:13They 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.

Hos 4:14

Hos 4:14“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!

Hos 4:15

Hos 4:15“Though you, Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty. “Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven.[fn] And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

Hos 4:16

Hos 4:16The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?

Hos 4:17

Hos 4:17Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!

Hos 4:18

Hos 4:18Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways.

Hos 4:19

Hos 4:19A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(4:2)

That is, to pronounce a curse on

(4:7)

Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory

(4:15)

Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).

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