Hosea 4-8

New International Version

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)

⁴ “Their deeds do not permit them
    to return^(BF) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution^(BG) is in their heart;
    they do not acknowledge^(BH) the Lord.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies^(BI) against them;
    the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble^(BJ) in their sin;
    Judah also stumbles with them.^(BK)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
    to seek the Lord,^(BL)
they will not find him;
    he has withdrawn^(BM) himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful^(BN) to the Lord;
    they give birth to illegitimate^(BO) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,^(BP)
    he will devour^[d](BQ) their fields.

⁸ “Sound the trumpet^(BR) in Gibeah,^(BS)
    the horn in Ramah.^(BT)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven^[e];^(BU)
    lead on, Benjamin.
⁹ Ephraim will be laid waste^(BV)
    on the day of reckoning.^(BW)
Among the tribes of Israel
    I proclaim what is certain.^(BX)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
    who move boundary stones.^(BY)
I will pour out my wrath^(BZ) on them
    like a flood of water.
¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed,
    trampled in judgment,
    intent on pursuing idols.^[f](CA)
12 I am like a moth^(CB) to Ephraim,
    like rot^(CC) to the people of Judah.

¹³ “When Ephraim^(CD) saw his sickness,
    and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,^(CE)
    and sent to the great king for help.^(CF)
But he is not able to cure^(CG) you,
    not able to heal your sores.^(CH)
14 For I will be like a lion^(CI) to Ephraim,
    like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces^(CJ) and go away;
    I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.^(CK)
15 Then I will return to my lair^(CL)
    until they have borne their guilt^(CM)
    and seek my face^(CN)—
in their misery^(CO)
    they will earnestly seek me.^(CP)”

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?^(CZ)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.^(DA)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth^(DB)—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.^[g](DC)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,^(DD)
    and acknowledgment^(DE) of God rather than burnt offerings.^(DF)
7 As at Adam,^[h] they have broken the covenant;^(DG)
    they were unfaithful^(DH) to me there.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,^(DI)
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,^(DJ)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder^(DK) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.^(DL)
10 I have seen a horrible^(DM) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.^(DN)

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest^(DO) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes^(DP) of my people,

³ “They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.^(DX)
4 They are all adulterers,^(DY)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
⁵ On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,^(DZ)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.^(EA)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;^(EB)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷ All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,^(EC)
    and none of them calls^(ED) on me.

⁸ “Ephraim mixes^(EE) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
⁹ Foreigners sap his strength,^(EF)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
¹⁰ Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,^(EG)
    but despite all this
he does not return^(EH) to the Lord his God
    or search^(EI) for him.

¹¹ “Ephraim is like a dove,^(EJ)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,^(EK)
    now turning to Assyria.^(EL)
12 When they go, I will throw my net^(EM) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
¹³ Woe^(EN) to them,
    because they have strayed^(EO) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me^(EP) falsely.^(EQ)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts^(ER)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,^[i] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,^(ES)
    but they turn away from me.^(ET)
15 I trained^(EU) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil^(EV) against me.
¹⁶ They do not turn to the Most High;^(EW)
    they are like a faulty bow.^(EX)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent^(EY) words.
For this they will be ridiculed^(EZ)
    in the land of Egypt.^(FA)

⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(FN)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(FO)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(FP)
8 Israel is swallowed up;^(FQ)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(FR)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria^(FS)
    like a wild donkey^(FT) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(FU)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(FV)
They will begin to waste away^(FW)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹ “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.^(FX)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.^(FY)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat^(FZ) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.^(GA)
Now he will remember^(GB) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:^(GC)
    They will return to Egypt.^(GD)
14 Israel has forgotten^(GE) their Maker^(GF)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”^(GG)