Hos 4-5 | 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 5

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

1 ^aqHear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you;
for ^aryou have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon ^asTabor.
2 And ^atthe revolters ^auhave gone deep into slaughter,
but ^avI will discipline all of them.
3 ^awI know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
Israel is defiled.
4 ^axTheir deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For ^aythe spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they know not the Lord.
5 ^azThe pride of Israel testifies to his face; ^{▼▼Or in his presence}
Israel and ^bbEphraim shall stumble in his guilt;
^bcJudah also shall stumble with them.
6 ^bdWith their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the Lord,
^bebut they will not find him;
^bfhe has withdrawn from them.
7 ^bgThey have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
8 ^bhBlow the horn in ^biGibeah,
the trumpet in ^bjRamah.
Sound the alarm at ^bkBeth-aven;
we follow you, ^{▼▼Or after you} O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like ^bmthose who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is ^bnoppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth. ^{▼▼Or to follow human precepts}
12 But I am ^bplike a moth to Ephraim,
and ^bqlike dry rot to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah ^brhis wound,
then Ephraim went ^bsto Assyria,
and sent to the great king. ^{▼▼Or to King Jareb}
^buBut he is not able to cure you
or heal ^bvyour wound.
14 For I will be ^bwlike a lion to ^bxEphraim,
and like a young lion to the house of ^byJudah.
^bzI, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
15 ^caI will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and ^cbin their distress earnestly seek me.