Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, {According to another reading, I have rejected.}I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.
They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.
And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.
And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play the harlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah {Or, become guilty}offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth.
For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.
{Or, Their carouse is over}Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; {Or, they are given up to love; her rulers are a shame}her {Hebrew: shields.}rulers dearly love shame.
The wind hath wrapped her up in its {Or, skirts}wings; and {Or, as otherwise read, their altars shall be put to shame}they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices.
Querverweise zu Hosea 4,10 Hos 4,10
When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.
Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul;But the belly of the wicked shall want.
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird: there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.
Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, so that not a man shall be left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
Ephraim, {Or, as I have seen, is like Tyre, that is planted &c.}like as I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer.
Give them, O Jehovah— what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house; I will love them no more; all their princes are revolters.
Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved fruit of their womb.
My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit:He hath ceased to be wise and to do good.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame;
behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for {Hebrew: breaking.}vexation of spirit.
And ye shall leave your name for {Hebrew: an oath.}a curse unto my chosen; and the Lord Jehovah will slay thee; and he will call his servants by another name:
so that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of {Hebrew: Amen. See 2 Corinthians 1:20; Revelation 3:14.}truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of {Hebrew: Amen. See 2 Corinthians 1:20; Revelation 3:14.}truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.Peace be upon Israel.
Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy {Or, emptiness}humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword.
And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
Behold, I will rebuke {Or, as otherwise read, your arm}your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away {Or, unto}with it.
and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of {Many ancient authorities read our.}the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.
For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, {Proverbs 26:11.}The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.