Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 4:1

"Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land." — Hosea 4:1 (ASV)

Controversy. —A judicial suit, in which Jehovah is plaintiff as well as judge (Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 41:21). By the “children of Israel” we are to understand the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as distinguished from Judah.

Mercy. —Better rendered love. The Hebrew word chésed expresses

1. the love of God for Israel under covenant relationship;
2. the corresponding quality in humans exhibited to God or towards their fellow humans.

(See Hupfeld on Psalms 4:4; and Duhm, Theologie der Propheten, p. 100.)