Parallel Verses
Amplified
My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles.
For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually],
And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.
New American Standard Bible
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
And they have played the harlot, departing
King James Version
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
Holman Bible
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;
they act promiscuously
in disobedience to
International Standard Version
My people seek counsel from their piece of wood, and their diviner's rod speaks to them. For a spirit of prostitution causes them to go astray; in their immorality they desert their God.
A Conservative Version
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declares to them, for the spirit of whoredom has caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, [departing] from under their God.
American Standard Version
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.
Bible in Basic English
My people get knowledge from their tree, and their rod gives them news; for a false spirit is the cause of their wandering, and they have been false to their God.
Darby Translation
My people ask counsel of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God:
Julia Smith Translation
My people will ask in their counsel, and with their rod they will announce to them: for the spirit of fornications caused to err, and they will commit fornication from under their God.
King James 2000
My people ask counsel of their idols of wood, and their staff advises unto them: for the spirit of harlotry has caused them to err, and they have played the harlot against their God.
Lexham Expanded Bible
My people, consult {their wooden idols}, and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led [them] astray, and they played the whore from under their God.
Modern King James verseion
My people seek advice from their wooden idols, and their rod declares to them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to go astray, and they have gone lusting away from under their God.
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
My people ask counsel at their stocks, their staff must tell them. For a whorish mind hath deceived them, so that they commit fornication against their God.
NET Bible
They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner's staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery against their God.
New Heart English Bible
My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
The Emphasized Bible
My people, of their Wood, do ask, - Let, their Staff, then tell them, - for, the spirit of unchastity, hath led them astray, and they have unchastely departed from under their God.
Webster
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of lewdness hath caused them to err, and they have gone astray from under their God.
World English Bible
My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
Youngs Literal Translation
My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God.
Themes
Adultery » A type of the apostate church when disobedient » Characterized as an adulteress
Divination » Effected through » Rods
Heart » What takes away the heart
Idolatry » Objects of, described as » Stocks
Idolatry » They who practice » Have fellowship with devils
Idolatry » They who practice » Ask counsel of their idols
Israel » A type of the apostate church when disobedient » Characterized as an adulteress
Israel » A type of the apostate church when disobedient » Adultery of
Sins » National » The jews, characterized as an adulteress
Topics
Interlinear
Sha'al
`ets
Nagad
Ruwach
Ta`ah
References
Word Count of 20 Translations in Hosea 4:12
Verse Info
Context Readings
God's Case Against The People
11
Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding.
My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles.
For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually],
And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because the shade is pleasant there.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute
And your brides commit adultery.
Cross References
Jeremiah 2:27
Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise [O Lord] and save us.’
Hosea 5:4
Their [immoral] practices will not permit them
To return to their God,
For the spirit of prostitution is within them
And they do not know the Lord [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].
Habakkuk 2:19
“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’
And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
Leviticus 17:7
So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.”’
Leviticus 20:5
then I shall set My face against that man and against his [extended] family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in
Numbers 15:39
It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, so that you do not follow after [the desires of] your own heart and eyes, [desires] after which you used to follow and play the prostitute,
Deuteronomy 31:16
The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down [in death] with your fathers; and this people will arise and
2 Chronicles 21:13
but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (your own family), who were better than you,
Psalm 73:27
For behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful and have abandoned You.
Isaiah 44:18-20
They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.
Jeremiah 3:1-3
And she goes [away] from him
And becomes another man’s [wife],
Will he return to her again? [Of course not!]
Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated?
But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish
In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!
Ezekiel 16:1-63
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 21:21
For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim (household idols), he looks at the liver [of an animal for an omen].
Ezekiel 23:1-49
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
Hosea 9:1
For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God.
You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].
Micah 2:11
“If a man walking in a false spirit [spouting deception]
Should lie and say,
‘I will prophesy to you [O Israel] of wine and liquor (greed, sensual pleasure),’
He would be the acceptable spokesman of this people.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11
The coming of the [Antichrist, the lawless] one is through the activity of Satan, [attended] with great power [all kinds of counterfeit miracles] and [deceptive] signs and false wonders [all of them lies],