Hosea 4
New American Standard Bible 1995
God’s Controversy with Israel
4 (A)Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,
For the Lord has a (B)case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is (C)no [a]faithfulness or [b]kindness
Or (D)knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is (E)swearing, (F)deception, (G)murder, (H)stealing and (I)adultery.
They employ violence, so that (J)bloodshed [c]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land (K)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea [d]disappear.
4 Yet let no one [e](L)find fault, and let none offer reproof;
For your people are like those who (M)contend with the priest.
5 So you will (N)stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your (O)mother.
6 (P)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have (Q)rejected knowledge,
I also will (R)reject you from being My priest.
Since you have (S)forgotten the (T)law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they (U)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will (V)change their glory into shame.
8 They (W)feed on the [f]sin of My people
And (X)direct their desire toward their iniquity.
9 And it will be, like people, (Y)like priest;
So I will (Z)punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
10 (AA)They will eat, but not have enough;
They will (AB)play the harlot, but not increase,
Because they have [g](AC)stopped giving heed to the Lord.
11 Harlotry, (AD)wine and new wine take away the [h]understanding.
12 My people (AE)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
And they have played the harlot, departing [i]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the (AF)tops of the mountains
And [j](AG)burn incense on the hills,
(AH)Under oak, poplar and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the harlot
And your [k]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot
Or your [l]brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves go apart with harlots
And offer sacrifices with (AI)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are [m]ruined.
15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Do not let Judah become guilty;
Also do not go to (AJ)Gilgal,
Or go up to Beth-aven
(AK)And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
16 Since Israel is (AL)stubborn
Like a stubborn heifer,
[n]Can the Lord now (AM)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is joined to (AN)idols;
(AO)Let him alone.
18 Their liquor gone,
They play the harlot continually;
(AP)Their [o]rulers dearly love shame.
19 (AQ)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:1 Or truth
- Hosea 4:1 Or loyalty
- Hosea 4:2 Lit touches
- Hosea 4:3 Lit are taken away
- Hosea 4:4 Lit contend
- Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
- Hosea 4:10 Lit forsaken giving heed; or forsaken the Lord to practice (v 11) harlotry
- Hosea 4:11 Lit heart
- Hosea 4:12 Lit from under
- Hosea 4:13 Or offer sacrifices
- Hosea 4:13 Or daughters-in-law
- Hosea 4:14 Or daughters-in-law
- Hosea 4:14 Lit thrust down
- Hosea 4:16 Or Now the Lord will pasture...field
- Hosea 4:18 Lit shields
Hosea 5
New American Standard Bible 1995
The People’s Apostasy Rebuked
5 Hear this, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
For you have been a (A)snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The (B)revolters have [a](C)gone deep in depravity,
But I will chastise all of them.
3 I (D)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,
Israel has defiled itself.
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a (E)spirit of harlotry is within them,
And they (F)do not know the Lord.
5 Moreover, the (G)pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
(H)Judah also has stumbled with them.
6 They will (I)go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will (J)not find Him;
He has (K)withdrawn from them.
7 They have (L)dealt treacherously against the Lord,
For they have borne [b](M)illegitimate children.
Now the (N)new moon will devour them with their [c]land.
8 (O)Blow the horn in (P)Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“(Q)Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become a (R)desolation in the (S)day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I (T)declare what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become like those who (U)move a boundary;
On them I will (V)pour out My wrath (W)like water.
11 Ephraim is (X)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
(Y)Because he was determined to [d]follow man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a (Z)moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [e]wound,
Then Ephraim went to (AA)Assyria
And sent to [f](AB)King Jareb.
But he is (AC)unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [g]wound.
14 For I will be (AD)like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
(AE)I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be (AF)none to deliver.
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [h](AG)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly (AH)seek Me.
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:2 Or waded deep in slaughter
- Hosea 5:7 Lit strange
- Hosea 5:7 Lit portions
- Hosea 5:11 Or with some ancient versions, follow nothingness
- Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
- Hosea 5:13 Or the avenging king or the great king
- Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
- Hosea 5:15 Or bear their punishment
Hosea 6
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Response to God’s Rebuke
6 “(A)Come, let us return to the Lord.
For (B)He has torn us, but (C)He will heal us;
He has [a]wounded us, but He will (D)bandage us.
2 “He will (E)revive us after two days;
He will (F)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
3 “So let us (G)know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His (H)going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the (I)rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, O (J)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
For your [b]loyalty is like a (K)morning cloud
And like the dew which goes away early.
5 Therefore I have (L)hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the (M)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.
6 For (N)I delight in loyalty (O)rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But (P)like [c]Adam they have (Q)transgressed the covenant;
There they have (R)dealt treacherously against Me.
8 (S)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with (T)bloody footprints.
9 And as (U)raiders wait for a man,
So a band of priests (V)murder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they have committed [d](W)crime.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a (X)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s (Y)harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself.
11 Also, O Judah, there is a (Z)harvest appointed for you,
When I (AA)restore the fortunes of My people.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
