The LORD's Controversy with Israel

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,

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 4:1

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.