Hosea 4:1
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.

English Standard Version
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;

Berean Standard Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

King James Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

New King James Version
Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

New American Standard Bible
Listen to the word of the LORD, you sons of Israel, Because the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, Nor knowledge of God in the land.

NASB 1995
Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land.

NASB 1977
Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land.

Legacy Standard Bible
Listen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel, For Yahweh has a contention against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no truth or lovingkindness Or knowledge of God in the land.

Amplified Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, For the LORD has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

Christian Standard Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land!

American Standard Version
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Hear the word of LORD JEHOVAH, children of Israel, because LORD JEHOVAH has a judgment with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, neither grace, nor the knowledge of God in the land

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Contemporary English Version
Israel, listen as the LORD accuses everyone in the land! No one is faithful or loyal or truly cares about God.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord shall enter into judgment with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land.

English Revised Version
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Listen to the word of the LORD, you Israelites. The LORD has brought these charges against those who live in the land: "There is no faith, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land.

Good News Translation
The LORD has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: "There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God.

International Standard Version
"Hear this message from the LORD, people of Israel. Indeed, the LORD brings a charge against the people who live in the land— for there is no truth and no gracious love or knowledge of God in the land.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel! For the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no truth, nor mercy, Nor knowledge of God in the land.

Literal Standard Version
“Hear a word of YHWH, sons of Israel, | For a strife [is] to YHWH with inhabitants of the land, | For there is no truth, nor kindness, | Nor knowledge of God in the land;

Majority Standard Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

New American Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, Israelites, for the LORD has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land: There is no fidelity, no loyalty, no knowledge of God in the land.

NET Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites! For the LORD has a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel. For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land, nor do they acknowledge God.

New Revised Standard Version
Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.

New Heart English Bible
Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel; for the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Webster's Bible Translation
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

World English Bible
Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel, for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Young's Literal Translation
Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife is to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Charges Against Israel
1Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! 2Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.…

Cross References
Isaiah 3:13
The LORD arises to contend; He stands to judge the people.

Isaiah 59:4
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.

Jeremiah 4:22
"For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good."

Jeremiah 7:28
Therefore you must say to them, 'This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their lips.

Jeremiah 9:3
"They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 25:31
The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,'" declares the LORD.


Treasury of Scripture

Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel: for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Cir.

1 Kings 22:19
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

Isaiah 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isaiah 28:14
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

for.

Hosea 12:2
The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 3:13,14
The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people…

no truth.

Isaiah 59:13-15
In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood…

Jeremiah 6:13
For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Jeremiah 7:3-6
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place…

nor knowledge.

Jeremiah 4:22,28
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge…

Jeremiah 5:4
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

John 8:55
Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

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Acknowledgment Case Cause Charge Children Controversy Ear Faithfulness Good Goodness Hear Indeed Inhabitants Israel Israelites Live Mercy Truth Word
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Acknowledgment Case Cause Charge Children Controversy Ear Faithfulness Good Goodness Hear Indeed Inhabitants Israel Israelites Live Mercy Truth Word
Hosea 4
1. God denounces judgments on Israel, for their aggravated impieties and iniquities.
12. He exposes the ignorance and wickedness of the priests,
13. and moral dissolution of the people,
14. he will leave their wives and daughters to commit lewdness, without present punishment.
15. He warns Judah, not to imitate Israel's crimes, which are still further reproved.














(1) Controversy.--A judicial suit, in which Jehovah is plaintiff as well as judge (Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 41:21). By the "children of Israel" we are to understand the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as distinguished from Judah.

Mercy.--Better rendered love. The Hebrew word chesed expresses (1) the love of God for Israel under covenant relationship; (2) the corresponding quality in man exhibited to God or towards his fellow-men. (See Hupfeld on Psalm 4:4; and Duhm, Theologie der Propheten, p. 100.)

Verse 1. - A new and distinct division of the book commences with this fourth chapter and continues till the close. What had previously been presented in figure and symbol is now plainly and literally stated. The children of Israel are summoned in the first verse of this chapter to hear the charge preferred against them and the sentence pronounced. Having convened, as it were, a public assembly and cited the persons concerned, the prophet proceeds to show cause why they are bound to give an attentive hearing. In God's controversy with the people of the land the prophet acts as his ambassador, accusing the people of great and grievous sins, and vindicating the justice of God's judgments in their punishment. The ki with which the last clause of the verse commences may be either causal or recitative, and may thus specify either the ground or subject of controversy. It is commonly understood here in the former sense. Israel is charged with want of truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God. Kimchi comments on this controversy as follows: "With the inhabitants of the land of Israel I have a controversy, for I gave them the land on the condition that they should exercise righteousness and judgment, and on this condition I pledged myself to them that my eyes would be upon them from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. But since they practice the opposite - cursing, lying, etc. - I also will act with them in a way contrary to what I assured them, and will hide my face from them." He adds, "There were some righteous among them, but they were few, and they hid themselves from the face of the multitude who were wicked." Truth and mercy are at once Divine attributes and human virtues; it is in the latter sense, of course, that they are here employed. Truth includes works as well as words, doing as well as saying; it implies uprightness in speech and behavior - thorough integrity of character and conduct, Mercy goes beyond and supplements this. We sometimes say of such a one that he is an honest but a hard man. Mercy combined with truth, on the contrary, makes a man kind as well as honest, benevolent as well as upright. In a somewhat similar sense the apostle conjoins goodness and righteousness when he says, "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die." The knowledge of God is the real root of these two virtues of truth and mercy. If we know God as he is in himself and as he stands in his relations to us, we shall conform our conduct to his character and our actions to his will. If we know God to be a God of truth, who delighteth in truth in the inward parts, we shall cultivate truth in our hearts, express it with our lips, and practice it in our lives. If we know God as a God of mercy, who has shown such boundless mercy to us in pardoning our multiplied and aggravated offences, we shall imitate that mercy in our relations to our fellow-man; nor shall we enact the part of the merciless man in the parable, who owed his lord ten thousand talents, and who, having nothing to pay, was freely forgiven the debt; but finding his fellow-servant, who owed him only an hundred pence, laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, "Pay me that thou owest," and, deaf to that fellow-servant's supplications, east him into prison till he should pay the debt. The intimate connection of the knowledge of God with the virtues in question is confirmed by the Prophet Jeremiah, "Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? he judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me, saith the Lord?"

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Hear
שִׁמְע֥וּ (šim·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

the word
דְבַר־ (ḏə·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of the LORD,
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

O children
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

for
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the LORD
לַֽיהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

has a case
רִ֤יב (rîḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7379: Strife, dispute

against
עִם־ (‘im-)
Preposition
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

the inhabitants
יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י (yō·wō·šə·ḇê)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

of the land:
הָאָ֔רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

There is no
אֵין־ (’ên-)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

truth,
אֱמֶ֧ת (’ĕ·meṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 571: Stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness

no
וְֽאֵין־ (wə·’ên-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

loving devotion,
חֶ֛סֶד (ḥe·seḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2617: Kindness, piety, reproof, beauty

and no
וְאֵֽין־ (wə·’ên-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

knowledge
דַּ֥עַת (da·‘aṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1847: Knowledge

of God
אֱלֹהִ֖ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

in the land!
בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ (bā·’ā·reṣ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land


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OT Prophets: Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of Yahweh you children (Ho Hs Hos.)
Hosea 3:5
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