41 '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, 2 Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery—have increased, And blood against blood hath touched. 3 Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea—they are removed. 4 Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people 'are' as those striving with a priest. 5 And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 4:1-5
Commentary on Hosea 4:1-5
(Read Hosea 4:1-5)
Hosea reproves for immorality, as well as idolatry. There was no truth, mercy, or knowledge of God in the land: it was full of murders, 2 Kings 21:16. Therefore calamities were near, which would desolate the country. Our sins, as separate persons, as a family, as a neighbourhood, as a nation, cause the Lord to have a controversy with us; let us submit and humble ourselves before Him, that he may not go on to destroy.