Hosea 7:13-16
New English Translation
Israel Has Turned Away from the Lord
13 Woe to them! For they have fled from me!
Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me!
I want to deliver[a] them,
but they have lied to me.
14 They do not pray to me,[b]
but howl in distress on their beds;
they slash themselves[c] for grain and new wine,
but turn away from me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened them,[d]
they plot evil against me!
16 They turn to Baal;[e]
they are like an unreliable bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because their prayers to Baal[f] have made me angry.
So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt.[g]
Footnotes
- Hosea 7:13 tn Heb “redeem” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. NCV, TEV “save,” CEV “I would have rescued them.”
- Hosea 7:14 tn Heb “they do not cry out to me in their heart”; cf. NLT “with sincere hearts.”
- Hosea 7:14 tc The MT reads יִתְגּוֹרָרוּ (yitgoraru), which is either (1) Hitpolel imperfect third 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 third 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 mss preserve an alternate textual tradition of יִתְגּוֹדָדוּ (yitgodadu), which is a Hitpolel imperfect third person common plural (“they slash themselves”) from גָּדַד (gadad, “to cut”; BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד), as also reflected in the LXX (cf. NAB “they lacerated themselves”; NRSV, TEV “gash themselves”; NLT “cut themselves”). This reflects the pagan Canaanite cultic practice of priests cutting themselves and draining their blood on the ground to elicit agricultural fertility by resurrecting the slain fertility god Baal from the underworld (Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5). Cf. CEV, which adds, “in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.”
- Hosea 7:15 tn Heb “their arms” (so NAB, NRSV).
- Hosea 7:16 tc The MT reads the enigmatic יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (yashuvu loʾ ʿal), which is taken variously: “they turn, but not upward” (NASB); “they do not turn to the Most High” (NIV); and “they return, but not to the most High” (KJV). The BHS editors suggest יָשׁוּבוּ לַבַּעַל (yashuvu labbaʿal, “they turn to Baal”; so RSV) or יָשׁוּבוּ לַבְּלִיַּעַל (yashuvu labbeliyyaʿal, “they turn to Belial”), which is reflected by the LXX.
- Hosea 7:16 tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for effect (prayers to Baal).
- Hosea 7:16 tn Heb “this [will] be for scorn in the land of Egypt”; cf. NIV “they will be ridiculed (NAB “shall be mocked”) in the land of Egypt.”
Hosea 7:13-16
Christian Standard Bible
The Lord’s Second Lament
13 Woe to them,(A) for they fled from me;(B)
destruction to them, for they rebelled against me!
Though I want to redeem them,(C)
they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry to me from their hearts;
rather, they wail on their beds.
They slash themselves[a](D) for grain and new wine;(E)
they turn away from me.
15 I trained and strengthened their arms,(F)
but they plot evil against me.(G)
16 They turn, but not to what is above;[b]
they are like a faulty bow.(H)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent tongue.(I)
They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.(J)
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