6aMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; bBecause you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
7 “The more they i1ncreased, The more they sinned against Me; aI will change2 their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people; They set their1 heart on their iniquity.
9 And1 it shall be: alike people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds.
10 For athey shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.
The Idolatry of Israel
11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine aenslave the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their awooden idols, And their1 staff informs them. For bthe spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.
13aThey offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. bTherefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery.
eat . . . sin of my people—that is, the sin offerings (Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 10:17). The priests greedily devoured them.
set their heart on their iniquity—literally "lift up the animal soul to lust after," or strongly desire. Compare Deuteronomy 24:15, Margin; Psalms 24:4; Jeremiah 22:27. The priests set their own hearts on the iniquity of the people, instead of trying to suppress it. For the more the people sinned, the more sacrificial victims in atonement for sin the priests gained.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Hosea 4:8:
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