ASV - Hosea Chapter 4 to 7

4 Hosea 4

¹Hear 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. ²There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood. ³Therefore 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. ⁴Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. ⁵And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother.

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, 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. ⁷As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame. ⁸They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity. ⁹And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings. ¹⁰And 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.

¹¹Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding. ¹²My 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. ¹³They 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 brides commit adultery. ¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your 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.

¹⁵Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth. ¹⁶For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place. ¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. ¹⁸Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love shame. ¹⁹The wind hath wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices.

5 Hosea 5

¹Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king; for unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. ²And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all. ³I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled. ⁴Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah. ⁵And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them. ⁶They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them. ⁷They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; for they have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.

⁸Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin. ⁹Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. ¹⁰The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. ¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after man's command. ¹²Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. ¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound. ¹⁴For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver. ¹⁵I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

6 Hosea 6

¹Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. ²After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. ³And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.

⁴O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away. ⁵Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. ⁶For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. ⁷But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. ⁸Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained with blood. ⁹And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem; yea, they have committed lewdness. ¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there whoredom is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled. ¹¹Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.

7 Hosea 7

¹When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers ravageth without. ²And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face. ³They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. ⁴They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened. ⁵On the day of our king the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers. ⁶For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. ⁷They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

⁸Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. ⁹Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not. ¹⁰And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto Jehovah their God, nor sought him, for all this. ¹¹And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria. ¹²When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of the heavens; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. ¹³Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them! for they have trespassed against me: though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me. ¹⁴And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for grain and new wine; they rebel against me. ¹⁵Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against me. ¹⁶They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.