Hosea 4

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¹Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. ✦ ²By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. ✦ ³Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away. ✦ ⁴“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest. ✦ ⁵Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother. ✦ ⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. ✦ ⁷“The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. ✦ ⁸They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity. ✦ ⁹And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds. ✦ ¹⁰For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the Lord. ✦ ¹¹“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. ✦ ¹²My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God. ✦ ¹³They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery. ✦ ¹⁴“I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, Nor your brides when they commit adultery; For the men themselves go apart with harlots, And offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled. ✦ ¹⁵“Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’— ✦ ¹⁶“For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country. ✦ ¹⁷“Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone. ✦ ¹⁸Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. ✦ ¹⁹The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Hos 4 ·13 Jer 5 ·9 Jer 3 ·8 Jer 2 ·8 Isa 1 ·7 Jer 4 ·6 Mic 3 ·5 Hos 5 ·5

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 4YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 4David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Hosea 4Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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