Hosea 4:6       New English Translation

6 You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject your descendants.

 

Lack of knowledge harms the church; it brings it to defilement

For the best we can do by ourselves appears like dirty rags

Even after a quick bath with some soap of our "own" making

It will never bring us to cleanliness from now on, just 2nd best

 

Spiritual knowledge opens the door to a deeper understanding

Not only of the good we know but also of the bad

Powers of darkness and their goals and how we can resist them

How to stop their operation on the way ahead

 

We know who we can't depend on as we confront and resist them

We know who stands by our side as the battle lines are drawn

We rest upon the principles which our leader shapes

Who will do what we expect of Him and will never let us down

 

Cause and effect are principles that God has in motion

Water drowns and fires burn, and food stills the appetite

Evil takes what it can and destroys our devotion

It takes all the ground we give a little at a time.

 

The ground we have and the ground we had. Is there a difference?

Can we claim back what we lost and what would be the cost?

The one who owns it now surely did not have to buy it

We handed it to him in a bag, and now it seems forever lost

 

Jan Wienen