Hosea 4:2
Hosea 4:2
“By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The charge is itemized as a cascade of broken commandments, with violence so unchecked that bloodshed runs into bloodshed.
What Does Hosea 4:2 Mean?
Having said what is absent, the LORD now names what fills the vacuum. The list echoes the commandments given at Sinai: false oaths, deceit, murder, theft, adultery. These sins 'break out' like a flood bursting its banks, and 'blood toucheth blood' pictures violence with no end.
When the knowledge of God departs, the moral fabric tears. Sin is never private; it spills outward and stains a whole community. The Lord names these things plainly not to shame but to wake His people, that they might turn back before the flood overwhelms them entirely.