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Hosea 4
New International Version

### The Charge Against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying(F) and murder,(G)
stealing(H) and adultery;(I)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(J)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(K)
and all who live in it waste away;(L)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(M)

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.(N)
5 You stumble(O) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(P)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(Q)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(R) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[b](S) for something disgraceful.(T)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(U)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(V)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(W)

10 “They will eat but not have enough;(X)
they will engage in prostitution(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(Z) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AA)
old wine(AB) and new wine
take away their understanding.(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AD)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AE)
A spirit of prostitution(AF) leads them astray;(AG)
they are unfaithful(AH) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AI) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AK)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AL)

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(AM)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AN)—
a people without understanding(AO) will come to ruin!(AP)

15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;(AQ)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c](AR)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(AT)
like a stubborn heifer.(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(AV) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(AW) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(AX)

#### Footnotes

1. Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
2. Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
3. Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).

#### Cross references

1. Hosea 4:1 : S Job 10:2; S Jer 2:9
2. Hosea 4:1 : Joel 1:2, 14
3. Hosea 4:1 : S Pr 24:2
4. Hosea 4:1 : S Pr 10:21; S Isa 1:3; Jer 7:28; S Hos 2:20
5. Hosea 4:1 : S Jer 51:5
6. Hosea 4:2 : Isa 59:3; Hos 7:3; 10:4; 11:12
7. Hosea 4:2 : Hos 5:2; 6:9
8. Hosea 4:2 : Hos 7:1
9. Hosea 4:2 : S Jer 9:2
10. Hosea 4:2 : S 2Ki 21:16; S Isa 1:15; S Eze 22:2, 9; Hos 5:2; 10:13
11. Hosea 4:3 : S Jer 4:28
12. Hosea 4:3 : S Isa 15:6; S 33:9
13. Hosea 4:3 : S Jer 4:25; S 9:10; S Eze 38:20; Zep 1:3
14. Hosea 4:4 : Dt 17:12; S Eze 3:26
15. Hosea 4:5 : S Eze 7:19; S 14:7
16. Hosea 4:5 : S Hos 2:2
17. Hosea 4:6 : S Pr 10:21; S Isa 1:3; S Hos 2:13; Mal 2:7-8
18. Hosea 4:6 : Hos 8:1, 12
19. Hosea 4:7 : Hab 2:16
20. Hosea 4:7 : Hos 9:11; 10:1, 6; 13:6
21. Hosea 4:8 : S Isa 56:11; Hos 14:1; Mic 3:11
22. Hosea 4:9 : S Isa 24:2
23. Hosea 4:9 : Jer 5:31; Hos 8:13; 9:9, 15; 10:10; 12:2
24. Hosea 4:10 : S Lev 26:26; S Isa 55:2; Mic 6:14
25. Hosea 4:10 : S Eze 22:9
26. Hosea 4:10 : Hos 7:14; 9:17
27. Hosea 4:11 : ver 14; Hos 5:4
28. Hosea 4:11 : S Lev 10:9; S 1Sa 25:36
29. Hosea 4:11 : S Pr 20:1
30. Hosea 4:12 : Jer 2:27
31. Hosea 4:12 : Hab 2:19
32. Hosea 4:12 : S Nu 15:39
33. Hosea 4:12 : S Isa 44:20
34. Hosea 4:12 : S Ps 73:27
35. Hosea 4:13 : S Isa 1:29
36. Hosea 4:13 : S Jer 3:6; Hos 10:8; 11:2
37. Hosea 4:13 : Jer 2:20; Am 7:17
38. Hosea 4:13 : Hos 2:13
39. Hosea 4:14 : S ver 11
40. Hosea 4:14 : S Ge 38:21; Hos 9:10
41. Hosea 4:14 : S Pr 10:21
42. Hosea 4:14 : ver 19
43. Hosea 4:15 : Hos 9:15; 12:11; Am 4:4; 5:5
44. Hosea 4:15 : S Jos 7:2; S Hos 5:8
45. Hosea 4:15 : S Jer 4:2
46. Hosea 4:16 : S Ex 32:9
47. Hosea 4:16 : S Jer 31:18
48. Hosea 4:16 : Isa 5:17; 7:25
49. Hosea 4:19 : Hos 12:1; 13:15
50. Hosea 4:19 : ver 13-14; Isa 1:29

New International Version (NIV)

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