Passage

Hosea 4.4-9

Book: Hosea · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood. 3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away."

"4. Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. 5. And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother. 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 also will forget thy children. 7. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame. 8. They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity. 9. And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings."

"10. And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play the harlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heed to Jehovah. 11. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding." (Hosea 4:2-11, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed. 3. Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die."

"4. “Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. 5. You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children. 7. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. 8. They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity. 9. It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds."

"10. They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh. 11. Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding." (Hosea 4:2-11, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. ^{blood: Heb. bloods} 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. Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. 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. ^{destroy: Heb. cut off} 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. ^{destroyed: Heb. cut off} 7. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. 8. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. ^{set: Heb. lift up their soul to} 9. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. ^{punish: Heb. visit upon} ^{reward: Heb. cause to return}"

"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. 11. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart." (Hosea 4:2-11, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery, have increased, And blood against blood hath touched. 3. Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea, they are removed."

"4. Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people [are] as those striving with a priest. 5. And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother. 6. Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also! 7. According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change. 8. The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul. 9. And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it."

"10. And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah. 11. Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart," (Hosea 4:2-11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H3548 - kohen

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.