Hosea 11:5

They will return to Egypt! ¹  Assyria will rule over them ²  because they refuse to repent! ³ 

"Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?

They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria—he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me.

"But since my people refuse to return to me, they will go back to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria.

Now he wants to go [back] to Egypt or go over to Assyria--anything but return to me!

He will go back to the land of Egypt and the Assyrian will be his king, because they would not come back to me.

They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.

"He shall not return to the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian shall be his king, Because they refused to repent.

They will return to Egypt! ¹  Assyria will rule over them ²  because they refuse to repent! ³ 

¹ tc Or “Will they not return to Egypt?” (so NIV). Following the LXX and BHS, the MT לֹא (lo’, “not”) should probably be read as לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and connected to the end of 11:4 rather than the beginning of 11:5. The textual confusion between לֹא and לוֹ probably reflects an unintentional scribal error due to a mistake in hearing (cf., e.g., Kethib/Qere in Ps 100:3).

² tn Heb “Assyria, he will be his [Israel’s] king” (NASB similar).

³ tn Heb “return” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). The root שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) appears at the beginning and ending of this verse, creating an inclusio. This repetition produces an ironic wordplay: because Israel refuses to “return” to God or “turn” from its sin, it will “return” to Egypt. The punishment fits the crime.