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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Hosea 4 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/hosea/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" 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title="Hosea 3">◄</a> Hosea 4 <a href="../hosea/5.htm" title="Hosea 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/hosea/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">The LORD’s Case against Israel</p><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel!</p><p class="line2">The LORD has brought charges against you, saying:</p><p class="line1">“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,</p><p class="line2">no knowledge of God in your land.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>You make vows and break them;</p><p class="line2">you kill and steal and commit adultery.</p><p class="line1">There is violence everywhere—</p><p class="line2">one murder after another.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>That is why your land is in mourning,</p><p class="line2">and everyone is wasting away.</p><p class="line1">Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,</p><p class="line2">and the fish of the sea are disappearing.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>“Don’t point your finger at someone else</p><p class="line2">and try to pass the blame!</p><p class="line1">My complaint, you priests,</p><p class="line2">is with you.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a></p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>So you will stumble in broad daylight,</p><p class="line2">and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.</p><p class="line2">And I will destroy Israel, your mother.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>My people are being destroyed</p><p class="line2">because they don’t know me.</p><p class="line1">Since you priests refuse to know me,</p><p class="line2">I refuse to recognize you as my priests.</p><p class="line1">Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,</p><p class="line2">I will forget to bless your children.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>The more priests there are,</p><p class="line2">the more they sin against me.</p><p class="line1">They have exchanged the glory of God</p><p class="line2">for the shame of idols.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a></p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.</p><p class="line2">So the priests are glad when the people sin!</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’</p><p class="line2">So now I will punish both priests and people</p><p class="line2">for their wicked deeds.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>They will eat and still be hungry.</p><p class="line2">They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,</p><p class="line1">for they have deserted the LORD</p><p class="line2"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>to worship other gods.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1">“Wine has robbed my people</p><p class="line2">of their understanding.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>They ask a piece of wood for advice!</p><p class="line2">They think a stick can tell them the future!</p><p class="line1">Longing after idols</p><p class="line2">has made them foolish.</p><p class="line1">They have played the prostitute,</p><p class="line2">serving other gods and deserting their God.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.</p><p class="line2">They go up into the hills to burn incense</p><p class="line2">in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1">“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution,</p><p class="line2">and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But why should I punish them</p><p class="line2">for their prostitution and adultery?</p><p class="line1">For your men are doing the same thing,</p><p class="line2">sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.</p><p class="line1">O foolish people! You refuse to understand,</p><p class="line2">so you will be destroyed.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,</p><p class="line2">may Judah not be guilty of such things.</p><p class="line1">Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></p><p class="line2">and do not take oaths there in the LORD’s name.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Israel is stubborn,</p><p class="line2">like a stubborn heifer.</p><p class="line1">So should the LORD feed her</p><p class="line2">like a lamb in a lush pasture?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Leave Israel<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> alone,</p><p class="line2">because she is married to idolatry.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,</p><p class="line2">off they go to find some prostitutes.</p><p class="line2">They love shame more than honor.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a></p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hosea/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>So a mighty wind will sweep them away.</p><p class="line2">Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:4 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Your people are like those with a complaint against the priests.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:7 </span><span class="ft">As in Syriac version and an ancient Hebrew tradition; Masoretic Text reads </span><span class="it">I will turn their glory into shame.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:15 </span><span class="it">Beth-aven</span><span class="ft"> means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:17 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Ephraim,</span><span class="ft"> referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:18 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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