>> Ignorance is good for society too. <<
ask "ye children of Israel" what ignorance got them!
[Hosea 4]
4:1 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.
4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people [are] as they that strive with the priest.
4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into shame.
4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
4:12 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.
4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof [is] good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people [that] doth not understand shall fall.
4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
4:17 Ephraim [is] joined to idols: let him alone.
4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers [with] shame do love, Give ye.
4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
[Hosea 5]
5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment [is] toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
5:2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I [have been] a rebuker of them all.
5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, [and] Israel is defiled.
5:4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms [is] in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.
5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
5:6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find [him]; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
5:9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
5:11 Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
5:12 Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
5:14 For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him].
5:15 I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. |
