4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children
of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the
land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the
land.
4:2 Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery bound in the
land, and they mingle blood with blood.
4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that
dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the
earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:
4:4 that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my
people are as a priest spoken against.
4:5 Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with thee shall fall:
I have compared thy mother unto night.
4:6 My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not minister as
priest to me: and [as] thou has forgotten the law of thy God, I also will
forget thy children.
4:7 According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn
their glory into shame.
4:8 They will devour the sins of my people, and will set their hearts on
their iniquities.
4:9 And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their
ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.
4:10 And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone
a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take
heed to the Lord.
4:11 The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and
strong drink.
4:12 They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to
them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom, and
gone grievously a-whoring from their God.
4:13 They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills
they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree,
because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring, and
your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.
4:14 And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit
fornication, nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery: for
they themselves mingled themselves with harlots, and sacrificed with
polluted ones, and the people that understood not entangled itself with a
harlot.
4:15 But thou, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go ye not, [men of] Juda, to
Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.
4:16 For Israel was maddened like a mad heifer: now the Lord will feed them
as a lamb in a wide place.
4:17 Ephraim, joined with idols, has laid stumbling-blocks in his own way.
4:18 He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously gone a-whoring: they
have loved dishonour through her insolence.
4:19 Thou art a blast of wind in her wings, and they shall be ashamed
because of their altars. |
4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children
of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,
because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein
shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven;
yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they
that strive with the priest.
4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall
with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to
me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy
children.
4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I
change their glory into shame.
4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their
iniquity.
4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for
their ways, and reward them their doings.
4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom,
and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto
them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have
gone a whoring from under their God.
4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon
the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is
good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall
commit adultery.
4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your
spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores,
and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not
understand shall fall.
4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and
come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD
liveth.
4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed
them as a lamb in a large place.
4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her
rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed
because of their sacrifices. |