Hos 5:4 | TNotes | STEP | 5:4 Israel’s idolatrous practices were so ingrained that they were apparently powerless to return to the Lord. • You are a prostitute through and through (literally the spirit of prostitution is within them ): Israel’s sin was not simply a behavior; it was the nation’s essential nature. They instinctively preferred the corrupt to the pure. Only through God’s work of salvation could Israel escape.

‏ Hosea 5:4

5:4 ^a Israel’s idolatrous practices were so ingrained that they were apparently powerless to return to the Lord.

• You are a prostitute through and through (literally the spirit of prostitution is within them): Israel’s sin was not simply a behavior; it was the nation’s essential nature. They instinctively preferred the corrupt to the pure. Only through God’s work of salvation could Israel escape.