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Hosea 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Hosea 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II. Israel’s Guilt, Punishment, and Restoration
Chapter 4
Indictment of Israel[a]
1 Hear the word of the Lord, Israelites,
for the Lord has a dispute
with the inhabitants of the land:(A)
There is no fidelity, no loyalty,
no knowledge of God in the land.
2 Swearing, lying, murder,
stealing and adultery break out;[b]
bloodshed follows bloodshed.(B)
3 Therefore the land dries up,
and everything that dwells in it languishes:
The beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and even the fish of the sea perish.(C)
Guilt of Priest and of People
4 But let no one accuse, let no one rebuke;
with you is my dispute, priest![c]
5 You will stumble in the day,
and the prophet will stumble with you at night;
I will make an end of your mother.[d]
6 My people are ruined for lack of knowledge!
Since you have rejected knowledge,
I will reject you from serving as my priest;
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children.
7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me,
I will change their glory[e] into shame.(D)
8 They feed on the sin of my people,
and are greedy for their iniquity.[f]
9 Like people, like priest:(E)
I will punish them for their ways,
and repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat but not be satisfied,(F)
they will promote prostitution[g] but not increase,
Because they have abandoned the Lord,
devoting themselves
11 to prostitution.
Aged wine and new wine
take away understanding.(G)
12 My people consult their piece of wood,[h]
and their wand makes pronouncements for them,
For the spirit of prostitution has led them astray;
they prostitute themselves, forsaking their God.
13 On the mountaintops they offer sacrifice
and on the hills they burn incense,
Beneath oak and poplar and terebinth,
because of their pleasant shade.[i]
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters for their prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law for their adultery,
Because the men themselves consort with prostitutes,
and with temple women[j] they offer sacrifice!
Thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.
15 Though you prostitute yourself, Israel,
do not let Judah become guilty!
Do not come to Gilgal,[k]
do not go up to Beth-aven,(H)
do not swear, “As the Lord lives!”(I)
16 For like a stubborn cow,
Israel is stubborn;
Will the Lord now pasture them,
like lambs in a broad meadow?
17 Ephraim[l] is bound to idols,
let him alone!
18 [m]When their drinking is over,
they give themselves to prostitution;(J)
they love shame more than their honor.
19 A wind[n] has bound them up in its wings;(K)
they shall be ashamed because of their altars.(L)
Footnotes
- 4:1–3 The introduction to the oracles (chaps. 4–11) which begin with “Hear the word of the Lord” (4:1) and end with “oracle of the Lord” (11:11).
- 4:2 Similar to the decalogue (Ex 20:1–17; cf. Jer 7:9).
- 4:4–6 Hosea is particularly severe with the priests in the Northern Kingdom who had led the way in the general apostasy from God’s law. The prophets here associated with the priests (v. 5) were doubtless cult prophets; cf. Jer 2:8; 4:9–10; 6:13–14; 23:9–40.
- 4:5 Your mother: the one who gave life to the priest, understood here as an extension of the punishment to his whole family (Am 7:17), or “mother” taken as a metaphor for the community of Israel, of which the priest is a member (Hos 2:4).
- 4:7 Their glory: possibly connoting “their children.” See 9:11: Is 22:24. Or “Glory” may refer to the Lord in contrast to Ba’al. The Hebrew word for shame, bosheth, is often substituted for Ba’al in biblical names. See Ishbaal (Heb. Ishbosheth, 2 Sm 2:8, 10, 12, 15) and Meribaal (Heb. Mephibosheth, 2 Sm 9:6, 10–13).
- 4:8 The priest receives part of the sacrifice (Lv 6:19; 7:7).
- 4:10–11 Prostitution: often a synonym for idolatry. The covenant bond was symbolized as the relationship between husband and wife (see chaps. 1–2). Thus, abandoning the Lord for a foreign god was called prostitution or adultery.
- 4:12 Piece of wood: a derogatory term for an idol. Wand: a sacred wooden object, perhaps some kind of staff, used for divination.
- 4:13 The shrines on the “high places” typically had an altar, a grove of trees, and a stone pillar representing a god (Dt 12:2; Jer 2:20).
- 4:14 Temple women: plural of Heb. qedesha; the exact import of the term is disputed. See notes on Gn 38:21 and Dt 23:18–19.
- 4:15 Gilgal: close to Jericho (Jos 4:19–20; 5:2–9). Beth-aven: (lit., “house of iniquity”) Hosea’s derogatory term for the sanctuary of Bethel (lit., “house of God”), the major shrine of the Northern Kingdom (10:5, 8; cf. Am 5:5). As the Lord lives: a legitimate oath formula (1 Sm 26:10, 16), but unacceptable here because Israel is guilty of religious syncretism and the idolatrous worship of other gods.
- 4:17 Ephraim: the name of one of the sons of Joseph, son of Jacob (Gn 41:52), also used to designate one of the tribes living in the heartland of the Northern Kingdom. Hosea often uses the name Ephraim to refer to the whole Northern Kingdom of Israel. During the latter part of his ministry, after the Assyrians occupied Galilee, Ephraim was all that remained of Israel.
- 4:18 Cf. v. 11.
- 4:19 A wind: (Heb. ruah), a metaphor for Israel’s addiction to the Baal cult, which is nothing but wind, a “spirit (ruah) of prostitution” (v. 12).
Hosea 4
New International Version
Hosea 4
New International Version
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying(F) and murder,(G)
stealing(H) and adultery;(I)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(J)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(K)
and all who live in it waste away;(L)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(M)
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.(N)
5 You stumble(O) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(P)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(Q)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(R) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[b](S) for something disgraceful.(T)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(U)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(V)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(W)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(X)
they will engage in prostitution(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(Z) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AA)
old wine(AB) and new wine
take away their understanding.(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AD)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AE)
A spirit of prostitution(AF) leads them astray;(AG)
they are unfaithful(AH) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AI) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AK)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AL)
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(AM)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AN)—
a people without understanding(AO) will come to ruin!(AP)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(AQ)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c](AR)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(AT)
like a stubborn heifer.(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(AV) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(AW) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(AX)
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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