Hosea 4

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¹Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. ✦ ²You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. ✦ ³That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing. ✦ ⁴“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. ✦ ⁵So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother. ✦ ⁶My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. ✦ ⁷The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. ✦ ⁸“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! ✦ ⁹‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. ✦ ¹⁰They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord ✦ ¹¹to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. ✦ ¹²They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God. ✦ ¹³They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. ✦ ¹⁴But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed. ✦ ¹⁵“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name. ✦ ¹⁶Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture? ✦ ¹⁷Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry. ✦ ¹⁸When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor. ✦ ¹⁹So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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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