4:1 Listen to the word of the LORD, you sons of Israel,
Because the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land,
For there is no ①faithfulness, nor ②loyalty,
Nor knowledge of God in the land.
▷ ①Or truth ②Or kindness
4:2 There is oath-taking, ①denial, murder, stealing, and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed ②follows bloodshed.
▷ ①I.e., of truth ②Lit touches
4:3 Therefore the land mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky,
And even the fish of the sea ①disappear.
▷ ①Lit are taken away
4:4 Yet let no one ①find fault, and let no one rebuke;
For your people are like those who contend with a priest.
▷ ①Lit contend
4:5 So you will stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.
4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Since you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the Law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
4:7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.
4:8 They feed on the ①sin of My people,
And long for their wrongdoing.
▷ ①Or sin offering
4:9 And it will be, like people, like priest;
So I will punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
4:10 They will eat, but not have enough;
They will play the prostitute, but not ①increase,
Because they gave up devoting themselves to the LORD.
▷ ①I.e., either in population or wealth
4:11 ①Infidelity, wine, and new wine take away the ②understanding.
▷ ①Or Prostitution ②Lit heart
4:12 My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful, departing ①from their God.
▷ ①Lit from under
4:13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains
And ①burn incense on the hills,
Under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your ②brides commit adultery.
▷ ①Or offer sacrifices ②Or daughters-in-law
4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Or your ①brides when they commit adultery,
Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes
And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.
▷ ①Or daughters-in-law
4:15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute,
Judah must not become guilty;
Also you are not to go to Gilgal,
Nor go up to Beth-aven
And take the oath:
“As the LORD lives!”
4:16 Since Israel is stubborn
Like a stubborn cow,
①Will the LORD now pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
▷ ①Or The LORD will now pasture...field.
4:17 Ephraim is allied with idols;
Leave him alone.
4:18 Their liquor is gone,
They prostitute themselves continually;
①Their ②rulers dearly love shame.
▷ ①Another reading is They dearly love the shame of gifts ②Lit shields
4:19 The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ①put to shame because of their sacrifices.
▷ ①Or ashamed