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 4,18 Hos 4,18
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,And of the fields of Gomorrah:Their grapes are grapes of gall,Their clusters are bitter:
There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
And thou shalt take no bribe: for a bribe blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the {Or, cause}words of the righteous.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together {Or, Unto the people}To be the people of the God of Abraham;For the shields of the earth belong unto God:He is greatly exalted.
Their wine is the poison of serpents,And the cruel venom of asps.
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.
Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the {Or, cause}words of the righteous.
How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they {Or, practised}made.
And the children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against Jehovah their God: and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;
and they set them up {Or, obelisks}pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every green tree;
and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the nations whom Jehovah carried away before them; and they wrought wicked things to provoke Jehovah to anger;
and they served idols, whereof Jehovah had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
Yet Jehovah testified unto Israel, and unto Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in Jehovah their God.
And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified unto them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them.
And they forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.
Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.
Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a {Or, bribe}ransom {Or, that I should hide mine eyes at him}to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me?
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
The {Or, vampire}horseleach hath two daughters, {Or, called}crying, Give, give.There are three things that are never satisfied,Yea, four that say not, Enough:
Sheol; and the barren womb;The earth that is not satisfied with water;And the fire that saith not, Enough.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
{Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it &c.}Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.