4HEAR THE word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy (a pleading contention) with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness, love, pity {and} mercy, or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.H8085H1697H3068H1121H3478H3068H7379H3427H776H571H2617H1847H430H776 2There is nothing but [false] swearing and breaking faith and killing and stealing and committing adultery; they break out [into violence], one [deed of] bloodshed following close on another.H422H3584H7523H1589H5003H6555H1818H5060H1818 3Therefore shall the land [continually] mourn, and all who dwell in it shall languish, together with the wild beasts of the open country and the birds of the heavens; yes, the fishes of the sea also shall [perish because of the drought] be collected {and} taken away.H776H56H3427H535H2416H7704H5775H8064H1709H3220H622 4Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove [another--do not waste your time in mutual recriminations], for with you is My contention, O priest.H376H7378H3198H376H5971H7378H3548 5And you shall stumble in the daytime, and the [false] prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother [the priestly nation].H3782H3117H5030H3782H3915H1820H517 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to Me; seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.H5971H1820H1847H3988H1847H3988H3547H7911H8451H430H7911H1121 7The more they increased {and} multiplied [in prosperity and power], the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.H7230H2398H4171H3519H7036 8They feed on the sin of My people and set their heart on their iniquity.H398H2403H5971H5375H5315H5771 9And it shall be: Like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their doings.H5971H3548H6485H1870H7725H4611 10For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall play the harlot and beget no increase, because they have forsaken the Lord for harlotry;H398H7646H2181H6555H5800H8104H3068 11Harlotry and wine and new wine take away the heart {and} the mind {and} the spiritual understanding.H2184H3196H8492H3947H3820 12My people [habitually] ask counsel of their [senseless] wood [idols], and their staff [of wood] gives them oracles {and} instructs them. For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray and they have played the harlot, withdrawing themselves from subjection to their God.H5971H7592H6086H4731H5046H7307H2183H8582H2181H430 13They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and they burn incense upon the hills and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because there the shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot and your sons' wives commit adultery.H2076H7218H2022H6999H1389H437H3839H424H6738H2896H1323H2181H3618H5003 14I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for [the fathers and husbands] themselves go aside in order to be alone with women who prostitute themselves for gain, and they sacrifice at the altar with dedicated harlots [who surrender their chastity in honor of the goddess]. Therefore the people without understanding shall stumble {and} fall {and} come to ruin.H6485H1323H2181H3618H5003H6504H2181H2076H6948H5971H995H3832 15Though you, Israel, play the harlot {and} worship idols, let not Judah offend {and} become guilty; come not to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth-aven [contemptuous reference to Bethel, then noted for idolatry], nor swear [in idolatrous service, saying], As the Lord lives.H3478H2181H3063H816H935H1537H5927H1007H7650H3068H2416 16For Israel has behaved stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. How then should he expect to be fed {and} treated by the Lord like a lamb in a large pasture?H3478H5637H5637H6510H3068H7462H3532H4800 17Ephraim is joined [fast] to idols, [so] let him alone [to take the consequences].H669H2266H6091H3240 18Their drinking carousal over, they go habitually to play the harlot; [Ephraim's] rulers [continue to] love shame more than her glory [which is the Lord, Israel's God].H5435H5493H2181H2181H4043H7036H157H3051 19The resistless wind [of God's wrath] has bound up [Israel] in its wings {or} skirts, and [in captivity] they {and} their altars shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, moon, and stars, and to heathen gods].H7307H6887H3671H954H2077
