Hosea 4
1
Hear the word of the LORD,
You children of Israel,
For the LORD brings a a charge against the inhabitants of the land:
"There is no truth or mercy
Or b knowledge of God in the land.
2
By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed upon bloodshed.
3
Therefore c the land will mourn;
And d everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4
"Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those e who contend with the priest.
5
Therefore you shall stumble f in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6
g My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
h Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7
"The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
i I will change their glory into shame.
8
They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their heart on their iniquity.
9
And it shall be: j like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And reward them for their deeds.
10
For k they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.
11
"Harlotry, wine, and new wine l enslave the heart.
12
My people ask counsel from their m wooden idols,
And their staff informs them.
For n the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
13
o They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
p Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.
14
"I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a q ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
15
"Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
r Do not come up to Gilgal,
Nor go up to s Beth Aven,
t Nor swear an oath, saying, 'As the LORD lives' -
16
"For Israel u is stubborn
Like a stubborn calf;
Now the LORD will let them forage
Like a lamb in open country.
17
" Ephraim is joined to idols,
v Let him alone.
18
Their drink is rebellion,
They commit harlotry continually.
w Her rulers dearly love dishonor.
19
x The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And y they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
Hosea 12:2
The LORD also brings a charge against Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds He will recompense him.
Micah 6:2
Hear, O you mountains, the LORD's complaint, And you strong foundations of the earth; For the LORD has a complaint against His people, And He will contend with Israel.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 4:22
"For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge."
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Cross References
Isaiah 24:4
The earth mourns and fades away, The world lang...
Isaiah 33:9
The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon is sha...
Jeremiah 4:28
For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens...
Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn, And the herbs of ...
Amos 5:16
Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says...
Amos 8:8
Shall the land not tremble for this, And everyo...
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Cross References
Zephaniah 1:3
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, The fish of the sea, And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land," Says the LORD.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 17:12
Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 15:8
Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them, Against the mother of the young men, A plunderer at noonday; I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly.
Hosea 2:2
Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts.
Hosea 2:5
For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.
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Cross References
Isaiah 5:13
Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 2:30
Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
Malachi 2:9
"Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law."
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Cross References
Isaiah 24:2
And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
Jeremiah 5:30
An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land:
Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.
2 Timothy 4:4
And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
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Cross References
Leviticus 26:26
When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
Isaiah 65:13
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed.
Micah 6:14
You shall eat, but not be satisfied; Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry some away, but shall not save them; And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
Haggai 1:6
"You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
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Cross References
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Isaiah 5:12
The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands.
Isaiah 28:7
But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:27
Saying to a tree, 'You are my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, 'Arise and save us.
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Cross References
Isaiah 44:19
And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?
Isaiah 44:20
He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, " Is there not a lie in my right hand?
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:29
For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth tree...
Isaiah 57:5
Inflaming yourselves with gods under every gree...
Isaiah 57:7
On a lofty and high mountain You have set your ...
Jeremiah 2:20
For of old I have broken your yoke and burst yo...
Ezekiel 6:13
Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when th...
Ezekiel 20:28
When I brought them into the land concerning wh...
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Cross References
Amos 7:17
"Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Your wife shall be a harlot in the city; Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by survey line; You shall die in a defiled land; And Israel shall surely be led away captive From his own land.'"
Romans 1:28 - 32
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 23:18
You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.
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Cross References
Hosea 9:15
All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious.
Hosea 12:11
Though Gilead has idols - Surely they are vanity - Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
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Cross References
1 Kings 12:29
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Joshua 7:2
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the country." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
Hosea 10:8
Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, "Cover us!" And to the hills, "Fall on us!
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Cross References
Jeremiah 5:2
Though they say, ' As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely.
Jeremiah 44:26
"Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the LORD, 'that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "The Lord GOD lives."
Amos 8:14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, Who say, 'As your god lives, O Dan!' And, 'As the way of Beersheba lives!' They shall fall and never rise again.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 3:6
The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.
Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
Jeremiah 8:5
Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
Zechariah 7:11
But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
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Cross References
Matthew 15:14
"Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."
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Cross References
Micah 3:11
Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 51:1
Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind.
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:29
For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees Which you have desired; And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens Which you have chosen.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.