Hoshea, starting at chapter 4
{4:1} Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Yisra'el;
For the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land:
"Indeed there is no truth,
Nor goodness,
Nor knowledge of God in the land.
{4:2} There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing
adultery;
They break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
{4:3} Therefore the land will mourn,
And everyone who dwells therein will waste away.
All living things in her,
Even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky;
Yes, the fish of the sea also die.
{4:4} "Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For
your people are like those who bring charges against a
[1>]Kohen[<1].
{4:5} You will stumble in the day,
And the prophet will also stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
{4:6} My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you,
That you may be no [2>]Kohen[<2] to me.
Because you have your God's law,
I will also forget your children.
{4:7} As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me.
I will change their glory into shame.
{4:8} They feed on the sin of my people,
And set their heart on their iniquity.
{4:9} It will be, like people, like [3>]Kohen[<3];
And I will punish them for their ways,
And will repay them for their deeds.
{4:10} They will eat, and not have enough.
They will play the prostitute, and will not increase;
Because they have abandoned giving to the LORD.
{4:11} Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
{4:12} My people consult with their wooded idol,
And answer to a stick of wood.
Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful to their God.
{4:13} They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains,
And burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths,
Because its shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your brides commit adultery.
{4:14} I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
Because the men consort with prostitutes,
And they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes;
And the people that does not understand will come to ruin.
{4:15} "Though you, Yisra'el, play the prostitute,
Yet don't let Yehudah offend;
And don't come to Gilgal,
Neither go up to Beit-Aven,
Nor swear, 'As the LORD lives.'
{4:16} For Yisra'el has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn
heifer.
Then how will the LORD feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
{4:17} Efrayim is joined to idols.
Leave him alone!
{4:18} Their drink has become sour.
They play the prostitute continually.
Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.
{4:19} The wind has wrapped her up in its wings;
And they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.
{5:1} "Listen to this, you [1>]Kohanim[<1]!
Listen, house of Yisra'el,
And give ear, house of the king!
For the judgment is against you;
For you have been a snare at Mitzpah,
And a net spread on Tavor.
{5:2} The rebels are deep in slaughter;
But I discipline all of them.
{5:3} I know Efrayim,
And Yisra'el is not hidden from me;
For now, Efrayim, you have played the prostitute.
Yisra'el is defiled.
{5:4} Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God;
For the spirit of prostitution is within them,
And they don't know the LORD.
{5:5} The pride of Yisra'el testifies to his face.
Therefore Yisra'el and Efrayim will stumble in their iniquity.
Yehudah also will stumble with them.
{5:6} They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the
LORD;
But they won't find him.
He has withdrawn himself from them.
{5:7} They are unfaithful to the LORD;
For they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
{5:8} "Blow the cornet in Gevah,
And the [2>]shofar[<2] in Ramah!
Sound a battle cry at Beit-Aven, behind you, Binyamin!
{5:9} Efrayim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Yisra'el, I have made known that which will
surely be.
{5:10} The princes of Yehudah are like those who remove a landmark.
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
{5:11} Efrayim is oppressed,
He is crushed in judgment;
Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
{5:12} Therefore I am to Efrayim like a moth,
And to the house of Yehudah like rottenness.
{5:13} When Efrayim saw his sickness,
And Yehudah his wound,
Then Efrayim went to Ashshur,
And sent to king Yarev:
But he is not able to heal you,
Neither will he cure you of your wound.
{5:14} For I will be to Efrayim like a lion,
And like a young lion to the house of Yehudah.
I myself will tear in pieces and go away.
I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
{5:15} I will go and return to my place,
until they acknowledge their offense,
And seek my face.
In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."
{6:1} "Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For he has torn us to pieces,
And he will heal us;
He has injured us,
And he will bind up our wounds.
{6:2} After two days will he revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
And we will live before him.
{6:3} Let us acknowledge the LORD.
Let us press on to know the LORD.
As surely as the sun rises,
The LORD will appear.
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain that waters the [1>]eretz[<1]."
{6:4} "Efrayim, what shall I do to you?
Yehudah, what shall I do to you?
For your love is like a morning cloud,
And like the dew that disappears early.
{6:5} Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets;
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
{6:6} For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice;
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
{6:7} But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant.
They were unfaithful to me, there.
{6:8} Gil`ad is a city of those who work iniquity;
It is stained with blood.
{6:9} As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man,
So the company of [2>]Kohanim[<2] murder in the way toward Shekhem,
Committing shameful crimes.
{6:10} In the house of Yisra'el I have seen a horrible thing.
There is prostitution in Efrayim.
Yisra'el is defiled.
{6:11} "Also, Yehudah, there is a harvest appointed for you,
When I restore the fortunes of my people.
________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
[1] {4:4} priest
[2] {4:6} priest
[3] {4:9} priest
[1] {5:1} priests
[2] {5:8} trumpet
[1] {6:3} earth
[2] {6:9} priests
________________________________________________________________________
The Hebrew Names Version of the World English Bible is in the Public
Domain. Typo reports are welcome at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please see
http://eBible.org/bible/hnv for updates and editing status.
___
You are getting this message because you subscribed to this mailing
list at a web site or via Majordomo.
To unsubscribe, please go to http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm OR send
email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe hnv" in the
message body.
