Hosea 4 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has an accusation against the inhabitants of the land! “There is no faithfulness, no loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.
1 Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel, for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 Instead there is only cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. They commit violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
3 As a result the land dries up, and everyone who lives there is wasting away, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea—they are all dying.
3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.
4 But no one should accuse or blame anyone else. My quarrel is with you the priests—you are the ones responsible.
4 “Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.
5 Consequently you will stumble in daylight, and the prophet will stumble together with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother.
5 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are dying because they don't know me. Because you have refused to know me, I refuse to accept you as my priests. You have forgotten my teachings, so I will forget your children.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
7 The more there were of them, the more they sinned against me, so I will change their glory into shame.
7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, greedy for their iniquity.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.
9 So it will be for the people like the priests: I will punish them for what they have done, repaying them for their actions.
9 It will be like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but they will not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution, but they will not prosper because they have given up on the Lord to go and prostitute themselves to other gods.
10 They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned listening to Yahweh.
11 They destroy their minds with old wine and new wine.
11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
12 My people consult their wooden idols and their divining rods give them answers, for a spirit of prostitution makes them go astray. Prostituting themselves, they have deserted their God.
12 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of mountains; they burn incense in the hills under the oak, poplar, and terebinth trees where the shade is pleasant. That's the reason why your daughters practice prostitution and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they practice prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because you men visit whores and sacrifice with temple prostitutes. A people who lack understanding end up in disaster.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.
15 Though you, Israel, have become a prostitute, may Judah not offend in the same way and not enter Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, nor swear saying, ‘The Lord lives.’
15 “Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’
16 For Israel is as stubborn as a stubborn cow. Should the Lord then take care of them like a lamb in a wide pasture?
16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is bewitched by idols, so leave him alone!
17 Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
18 Once the leaders finish drinking, they go off and find prostitutes to sleep with. They love their shameful acts more than honor.
18 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.
19 A wind will carry them away; they will be ashamed of their pagan worship.”
19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.
Cross references (19)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 4:22; Micah 6:2; Isaiah 3:13–14; 1 Corinthians 15:34; Jeremiah 5:4
- 2 Hosea 6:9; Micah 7:2; Jeremiah 6:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:15; Jeremiah 7:6–10
- 3 Zephaniah 1:3; Isaiah 24:4–12; Nahum 1:4; Ezekiel 38:20; Amos 5:16
- 4 Deuteronomy 17:12; Ezekiel 3:26; Hosea 4:17; Jeremiah 18:18; Matthew 7:3–6
- 5 Hosea 2:2; Jeremiah 15:8; Galatians 4:26; Zechariah 13:2; Ezekiel 16:44–45
- 6 Isaiah 5:13; Proverbs 19:2; Hosea 6:6; 2 Corinthians 4:3–6; Hosea 4:1
- 7 Hosea 13:6; Philippians 3:19; 1 Samuel 2:30; Hosea 4:10; Malachi 2:9
- 8 Micah 3:11; Isaiah 56:11; Titus 1:11; 1 Samuel 2:29; Leviticus 6:26
- 9 Jeremiah 5:31; Isaiah 24:2; Matthew 15:14; Hosea 1:4; Jeremiah 23:11–12
- 10 Micah 6:14; Leviticus 26:26; Haggai 1:6; Psalm 36:3; Zephaniah 1:6
- 11 Proverbs 20:1; Luke 21:34; Isaiah 28:7; Proverbs 6:32; Ecclesiastes 7:7
- 12 Jeremiah 2:27; Hosea 5:4; Habakkuk 2:19; Numbers 15:39; Deuteronomy 31:16
- 13 Jeremiah 3:6; Ezekiel 6:13; Isaiah 1:29; Amos 7:17; Jeremiah 2:20
- 14 Hosea 4:1; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 28:5; Hosea 14:9
- 15 Hosea 9:15; Hosea 12:11; Amos 4:4; Amos 5:5; Ephesians 5:11
- 16 1 Samuel 15:11; Jeremiah 5:6; Zechariah 7:11; Jeremiah 7:24; Leviticus 26:33
- 17 Psalm 81:12; Revelation 22:11; Hosea 11:2; Hosea 4:4; Hosea 13:2
- 18 Micah 3:11; Proverbs 30:15–16; Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19; Micah 7:3
- 19 Jeremiah 51:1; Jeremiah 4:11–12; Hosea 13:15; Isaiah 1:29; Jeremiah 17:13
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… it:" and "let us walk honestly as in the day." "For all things serve Thee." He said all things of some: "all" which belong to this day "serve Thee." For the ungodly of whom it is said, "I have compared thy mother unto the night," do not serve Thee.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
But sin also is called spirit, as I have already said; only in another and opposite sense, as when it is said, The spirit of whoredom caused them to err.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)