Hos 4, Hos 13 | ESV | STEP | Hear the word of the Lord , O children of Israel , for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land . There is no faithfulness or steadfast love , and no knowledge of God in the land ;

Hosea 4

The Lord Accuses Israel

1 ^aHear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for ^bthe Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and ^cno knowledge of God in the land;
2 ^dthere is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and ^ebloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore ^fthe land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
^gand also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
^hand even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 ⁱYet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is ^jmy contention, O priest. ^{▼▼Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest}
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy ^lyour mother.
6 My people are destroyed ^mfor lack of knowledge;
ⁿbecause you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you ^ofrom being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
^pI also will forget your children.
7 ^qThe more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
^rI will change their glory into shame.
8 ^sThey feed on the sin ^{▼▼Or sin offering} of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 ^uAnd it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 ^vThey shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which ^wtake away the understanding.
12 My people ^xinquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^ya spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 ^zThey sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
^aaunder oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^abthe men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with ^accult prostitutes,
and a people ^adwithout understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O ^aeIsrael,
let not ^afJudah become guilty.
^agEnter not into ^ahGilgal,
nor go up to ^aiBeth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 ^ajEphraim is joined to idols;
^akleave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
^altheir rulers ^{▼▼Hebrew shields} dearly love shame.
19 ^anA wind has wrapped them ^{▼▼Hebrew her} in its wings,
and they shall ^apbe ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 13

The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
^aqhe was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt ^arthrough Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and ^asmake for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
^atall of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice ^aukiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be ^avlike the morning mist
or ^awlike the dew that goes early away,
^axlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or ^aylike smoke from a window.
4 But ^azI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
^bayou know no God but me,
and ^bbbesides me there is no savior.
5 ^bcIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 ^bdbut when they had grazed, ^{▼▼Hebrew according to their pasture} they became full,
^bfthey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
^bgtherefore they forgot me.
7 So ^bhI am to them like a lion;
^bilike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them ^bjlike a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
^bkas a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys ^{▼▼Or I will destroy} you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against ^bmyour helper.
10 ^bnWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^boyou said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 ^bpI gave you a king in my anger,
and ^bqI took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is ^brbound up;
his sin is ^bskept in store.
13 ^btThe pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
^buat the opening of the womb.
14 ^bvI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
^bwI shall redeem them from Death.
^bxO ^byDeath, where are your plagues?
^bzO ^caSheol, where is your sting?
^cbCompassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Though ^cche may flourish among his brothers,
^cdthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
^ceand his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^cfhis treasury
of every precious thing.
16 ^{▼▼Ch 14:1 in Hebrew} Samaria ^chshall bear her guilt,
because ^cishe has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
^cjtheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their ^ckpregnant women ripped open.