Hosea 4:13-15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
13 On the mountaintops they offer sacrifice
and on the hills they burn incense,
Beneath oak and poplar and terebinth,
because of their pleasant shade.[a]
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters for their prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law for their adultery,
Because the men themselves consort with prostitutes,
and with temple women[b] they offer sacrifice!
Thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.
15 Though you prostitute yourself, Israel,
do not let Judah become guilty!
Do not come to Gilgal,[c]
do not go up to Beth-aven,(A)
do not swear, “As the Lord lives!”(B)
Footnotes
- 4:13 The shrines on the “high places” typically had an altar, a grove of trees, and a stone pillar representing a god (Dt 12:2; Jer 2:20).
- 4:14 Temple women: plural of Heb. qedesha; the exact import of the term is disputed. See notes on Gn 38:21 and Dt 23:18–19.
- 4:15 Gilgal: close to Jericho (Jos 4:19–20; 5:2–9). Beth-aven: (lit., “house of iniquity”) Hosea’s derogatory term for the sanctuary of Bethel (lit., “house of God”), the major shrine of the Northern Kingdom (10:5, 8; cf. Am 5:5). As the Lord lives: a legitimate oath formula (1 Sm 26:10, 16), but unacceptable here because Israel is guilty of religious syncretism and the idolatrous worship of other gods.
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