Hosea 13:9

I will destroy you, ¹  O Israel! Who ²  is there to help you?

De 33:26; 2Ki 17:7-17; Ps 33:20; Ps 46:1; Ps 121:1,2; Ps 146:5; Pr 6:32; Pr 8:36; Isa 3:9,11; Jer 2:17,19; Jer 4:18; Jer 5:25; Ho 13:4; Ho 14:1; Mal 1:9; Eph 1:3-5; Tit 3:3-7

¹ tc The MT reads שִׁחֶתְךָ (shikhetkha, “he destroyed you”; Piel perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׁחַת, shakhat, “to destroy” + 2nd person masculine singular suffix). The BHS editors suggest שׁחתיךָ (“I will destroy you”; Piel perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix). Contextually, this fits: If the Lord is intent on destroying Israel, there is no one who will be able to rescue her from him. This reading is also followed by NCV, NRSV, TEV.

² tc The MT reads כִּי־בִי בְעֶזְרֶךָ (ki-vi ve’ezrekha, “but in me is your help”); cf. KJV, NIV, NLT. The LXX and Syriac reflect an underlying Hebrew text of כִּי־מִי בְעֶזְרֶךָ (ki-mi ve’ezrekha, “For who will help you?”). The interrogative מִי (“Who?”) harmonizes well with the interrogatives in 13:9-10 and should be adopted, as the BHS editors suggest; the reading is also followed by NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV.