Add parallel Print Page Options

There is cursing, lying, murder, theft, and adultery.
    They break out in violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,[a]
    and everyone who dwells in it wastes away
    along with the wild animals and the birds in the sky.
    Even the fish of the sea have been removed.
Yet no one should bring charges.
    No one should accuse,
    because your people are like those who dispute with a priest.[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 4:3 Or dries up
  2. Hosea 4:4 The verse is difficult. The translation follows the Hebrew and Greek texts. Translations that render the third line my contention is with you, O priest emend the text to obtain this rendering. The point of the verse seems to be that it is useless to bring charges against these people, because they would not accept the judgment even of a priest.