4:1  Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
"There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.

4:2  There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

4:3  Because of this the land mourns,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying.

4:4  "But let no man bring a charge,
let no man accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.

4:5  You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother-

4:6  my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
"Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.

4:7  The more the priests increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful.

4:8  They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.

4:9  And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.

4:10  "They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not increase,
because they have deserted the LORD
to give themselves

4:11  to prostitution,
to old wine and new,
which take away the understanding

4:12  of my people.
They consult a wooden idol
and are answered by a stick of wood.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.

4:13  They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

4:14  "I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!

4:15  "Though you commit adultery, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
"Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth Aven.
And do not swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives!'

4:16  The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?

4:17  Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!

4:18  Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.

4:19  A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.