Hosea 4

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Israelites, hear what Yahweh says, for Yahweh indicts the citizens of the country: there is no loyalty, nofaithful love, no knowledge of God in the country,	1 Listen to the word of the Lord, sons of Israel, for the Lord is judge of the inhabitants of the land. Yet there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God, in the land.
2 only perjury and lying, murder, theft, adultery and violence, bloodshed after bloodshed.	2 Slander, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and bloodshed has brought more bloodshed.
3 This is why the country is in mourning and al its citizens pining away, the wild animals also and birds ofthe sky, even the fish in the sea wil disappear.	3 Because of this, the land will mourn, and all who dwell in it will languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. And the fishes of the sea also will be gathered together.
4 But let no one denounce, no one rebuke; it is you, priest, that I denounce.	4 So, truly, let each and every one not judge, and let no man be accused, for your people are just like those who speak against the priesthood.
5 Priest, you wil stumble in broad daylight, and the prophet will stumble with you in the dark, and I wilmake your mother perish.	5 And you will be ruined on this day, and now the prophet will be ruined with you. In the night, I have made your mother to be silent.
6 My people perish for want of knowledge. Since you yourself have rejected knowledge, so I shall rejectyou from my priesthood; since you have forgotten the teaching of your God, I in my turn shal forget yourchildren.	6 My people have become silent because they had no knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will drive you away; you do not perform the duties of the priesthood for me, and you have forgotten the law of your God, and so I will forget your sons.
7 The more of them there have been, the more they have sinned against me; they have bartered theirGlory for Shame.	7 According to the multitude of them, so have they sinned against me. I will change their glory into disgrace.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, they are greedy for their iniquity.	8 They will devour the sins of my people, and they will lift up their souls towards their iniquity.
9 But as with the people, so with the priest, I shal punish them for their conduct, I shal pay them back fortheir deeds.	9 And, just as it is with the people, so will it be with the priest; and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them for their intentions.
10 They will eat but never be satisfied, they wil play the whore but not grow more prolific, since they havedeserted Yahweh to give themselves up	10 And they will eat and not be satisfied. They have been committing fornication, and they did not cease. Since they have abandoned the Lord, they will not be safeguarded.
11 to whoring. Old wine and new wine addle my people's wits,	11 Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness, have taken away their heart.
12 they consult their block of wood, and their stick explains what they should do. For an urge to gowhoring has led them astray and whoring they go and desert their God;	12 My people have inquired of their stave, and their staff has announced to them. For the spirit of fornication has deceived them, and they have been fornicating before their God.
13 they offer sacrifice on the mountain tops, they burn incense on the hil s, under oak and poplar andterebinth, for pleasant is their shade. So, although your daughters play the whore and your daughters-in-lawcommit adultery,	13 They have offered sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burnt incense on the hills, under the oak, and the poplar, and the terebinth tree, because its shadow was good; therefore, your daughters will commit fornication and your spouses will be adulteresses.
14 I shal not punish your daughters for playing the whore nor your daughters-in-law for committingadultery, when the men themselves are wandering off with whores and offering sacrifice with sacred prostitutes,for a people with no understanding is doomed.	14 I will not send afflictions on your daughters, when they will commit fornication, nor on your spouses, when they will commit adultery, because you yourselves have associated with harlots and have offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and because the people who do not understand will be defeated.
15 Though you, Israel, play the whore, there is no need for Judah to sin too. Do not go to Gilgal, do notgo up to Beth-Aven, do not swear oaths 'by Yahweh's life',	15 If you commit fornication, Israel, at least let Judah not commit offenses; and do not be willing to enter into Gilgal, nor to ascend to Bethaven, and neither should you swear, “As the Lord lives.”
16 for Israel is as stubborn as a stubborn heifer; so is Yahweh likely to pasture him like a lamb in a broadmeadow?	16 For Israel has gone astray like a wanton heifer; so now the Lord will pasture them like a young lamb in a wide expanse.
17 Ephraim has made a pact with idols- let him alone!	17 Ephraim participates in idolatry, so send him away.
18 Their drunken orgy over, they do nothing but play the whore, preferring Shame to their Pride;	18 Their feasting has been set aside; they have committed fornication after fornication. They love to bring disgrace to their protectors.
19 the wind with its wings wil carry them off and their sacrifices wil bring them nothing but disgrace.	19 The wind has fastened them to its wings, and they will be confounded because of their sacrifices.