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Hosea 4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

God’s Controversy with Israel

4 ^(A)Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel,
Because the Lord has a ^(B)case against the inhabitants of the land,
For there is ^(C)no ^[a]faithfulness, nor ^[b]loyalty,
Nor ^(D)knowledge of God in the land.
²There is ^(E)oath-taking, ^(F)^[c]denial, ^(G)murder, ^(H)stealing, and ^(I)adultery.
They employ violence, so that ^(J)bloodshed ^[d]follows bloodshed.
³Therefore the land ^(K)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky,
And even the fish of the sea ^[e]disappear.

⁴Yet let no one ^[f]^(L)find fault, and let no one rebuke;
For your people are like those who ^(M)contend with a priest.
⁵So 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.
Since 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.

⁷The more they ^(U)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will ^(V)change their glory into shame.
⁸They ^(W)feed on the ^[g]sin of My people,
And ^(X)long for their wrongdoing.
⁹And 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 prostitute, but not ^[h]increase,
Because they ^(AC)gave up devoting themselves to the Lord.

¹¹^[i]Infidelity, ^(AD)wine, and new wine take away the ^[j]understanding.
¹²My people ^(AE)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful, departing ^[k]from their God.
¹³They offer sacrifices on the ^(AF)tops of the mountains
And ^[l]^(AG)burn incense on the hills,
^(AH)Under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your ^[m]brides commit adultery.
¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Or your ^[n]brides when they commit adultery,
Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes
And offer sacrifices with ^(AI)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.

¹⁵Though you, Israel, play the prostitute,
Judah must not become guilty;
Also you are not to go to ^(AJ)Gilgal,
Nor go up to Beth-aven
^(AK)And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
¹⁶Since Israel is ^(AL)stubborn
Like a stubborn cow,
^[o]Will the Lord now ^(AM)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
¹⁷Ephraim is allied with ^(AN)idols;
^(AO)Leave him alone.
¹⁸Their liquor is gone,
They prostitute themselves continually;
^[p]^(AP)Their ^[q]rulers dearly love shame.
¹⁹^(AQ)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ^[r]put to shame because of their sacrifices.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)