A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Hosea 4
Chapter summary coming soon.
Verse 1. Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!
Verse 2. Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Verse 3. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
Verse 4. But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.
Verse 5. You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—
Verse 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
Verse 7. The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.
Verse 8. They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.
Verse 9. And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
Verse 10. They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have abandoned the LORD to give themselves
Verse 11. to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding.
Verse 12. My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
Verse 13. They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
Verse 14. I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.
Verse 15. Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
Verse 16. For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
Verse 17. Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
Verse 18. When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.
Verse 19. The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.