5:3 I know Ephraim all too well; 1
the evil of 2 Israel is not hidden from me.
For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;
Israel has defiled itself. 3
5:6 Although they bring their flocks and herds 4
to seek 5 the favor of the Lord, 6
They will not find him –
he has withdrawn himself from them!
7:2 They do not realize 7
that I remember all of their wicked deeds.
Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;
their sinful deeds are always before me. 8
7:14 They do not pray to me, 9
but howl in distress on their beds;
They slash themselves 10 for grain and new wine,
but turn away from me.
8:5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol!
My anger burns against them!
They will not survive much longer without being punished, 11
even though they are Israelites!
8:6 That idol was made by a workman – it is not God!
The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
9:3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land.
Ephraim will return to Egypt;
they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.
10:3 Very soon they will say, “We have no king
since we did not fear the Lord.
But what can a king do for us anyway?”
10:9 O Israel, you have sinned since the time 12 of Gibeah,
and there you have remained.
Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?
11:3 Yet it was I who led 13 Ephraim,
I took them by the arm;
but they did not acknowledge
that I had healed them. 14
13:4 But I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me;
except me there is no Savior.
13:13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,
but the baby will lack wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he will not come out of the womb!
1 tn The phrase “all too well” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
2 tn The phrase “the evil of” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is implied by the metonymical (cause-effect) use of the term “Israel.” It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NCV “what they have done is not hidden from me.”
3 tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; NCV “has made itself unclean”; TEV “are unfit to worship me.”
4 sn The terms flocks and herds are used figuratively for animal sacrifices (metonymy of association). Hosea describes the futility of seeking God’s favor with mere ritual sacrifice without the prerequisite moral obedience (e.g., 1 Sam 15:24; Ps 50:6-8; 51:17-18; Isa 1:12; Mic 6:6-8).
5 tn Heb “they go out to seek the
6 tn Heb “the
7 tn Heb “and they do not say in their heart”; TEV “It never enters their heads.”
8 tn Heb “they [the sinful deeds] are before my face” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “they are right in front of me.”
9 tn Heb “they do not cry out to me in their heart”; NLT “with sincere hearts.”
10 tc The MT reads יִתְגּוֹרָרוּ (yitgoraru) which is either (1) Hitpolel imperfect 3rd person masculine plural (“they assemble themselves”; so KJV, NASB) from I גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn”; BDB 157 s.v. I גּוּר) or (2) Hitpolel imperfect 3rd person masculine plural (“they excite themselves”) from II גּוּר (gur, “to stir up”; BDB 158 s.v. II גּוּר). However, the Hebrew lexicographers suggest that both of these options are unlikely. Several other Hebrew
11 tn Heb “How long will they be able to be free from punishment?” This rhetorical question affirms that Israel will not survive much longer until God punishes it.
12 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
13 tn Or “taught Ephraim to walk” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). The verb תִרְגַּלְתִּי (tirgalti, “I taught [him] to walk, I led [him]”; Tiphil perfect 1st person common singular from רָגַל, ragal, “to walk”) is an unusual verb stem: the Tiphil (properly Taphel) is attested three times in Biblical Hebrew (Hos 11:3; Jer 12:5; 22:15) and once in Biblical Aramaic (Ezra 4:7; see GKC 153 §55.h).
14 tn Or “that it was I who had healed them” (NIV, NLT similar).