Hosea 4:11

‘Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.'

Israel are here described as being lacking in understanding both because of their whoredom and licentiousness, and because they indulge themselves in abundance of wine, each of which is a consequence of their religious activities. Illicit sex and drink are thus dulling their minds and preventing them from thinking straightly.

Some would bring ‘my people' from being the first words in Hosea 4:12 to being the last words in Hosea 4:11. The Hebrew text can be read either way (it has no punctuation). We would then read ‘whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding of My people'. Hosea 4:12 would then read ‘They ask counsel at their tree --'. It makes no difference to the overall sense.