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 4,11 Hos 4,11
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.
He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding:He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;And whosoever {Or, reeleth}erreth thereby is not wise.
For a harlot is a deep ditch;And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
Yea, she lieth in wait {Or, as for a prey}as a robber,And increaseth the treacherous among men.
Who hath {Hebrew: Oh!}woe? who hath {Hebrew: Alas!}sorrow? who hath contentions?Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?Who hath {Or, darkness}redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine;They that go to {Or, try}seek out mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,When it sparkleth in the cup,When it {Or, moveth itself aright}goeth down smoothly:
At the last it biteth like a serpent,And stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold {Or, strange women}strange things,And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;They have beaten me, and I felt it not:When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
{Or, For}Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding.
And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:
And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is {Or, our salvation nearer than when & c.}salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.