The Lord Condemns Pagan Worship (HOS 4:11-5:3)

[4:11] The Lord says, “Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses!

[4:12] They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods.

[4:13] At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant! “As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

[4:14] Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes, and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, ‘A people without sense will be ruined.’

[4:15] “Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven, or make promises there in the name of the living Lord.

[4:16] The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?

[4:17] The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.

[4:18] After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor.

[4:19] They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices.

[5:1] “Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, people of Israel! Listen, you that belong to the royal family! You are supposed to judge with justice—so judgment will fall on you! You have become a trap at Mizpah, a net spread on Mount Tabor,

[5:2] a deep pit at Acacia City, and I will punish all of you.

[5:3] I know what Israel is like—she cannot hide from me. She has been unfaithful, and her people are unfit to worship me.”