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They deeply corrupted themselves[a]
    as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their sin,
    he will punish their sins.
10 Like the grapes in the wilderness,
    I found Israel.
Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,[b]
    I saw your ancestors.[c]
They themselves came to Baal Peor,
    and they consecrated themselves to shame.
And they became detestable things,
    like the thing they love.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:9 Literally “They made deep, they corrupted themselves”
  2. Hosea 9:10 Or “in the beginning”
  3. Hosea 9:10 Or “fathers”
  4. Hosea 9:10 Literally “like loving things”

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

They have sunk deep into corruption[a]
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their wrongdoing.
He will repay them for their sins.
10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness.
I viewed your ancestors[b] like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season.
Then they came to Baal Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame—
they became as detestable as what they loved.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:9 tn Or more literally, “they are deeply corrupted.” The two verbs הֶעְמִיקוּ־שִׁחֵתוּ (heʿmiqu shikhetu; literally, “they have made deep, they act corruptly”) are coordinated without a conjunction vav to form a verbal hendiadys: the second verb represents the main idea, while the first functions adverbially (GKC 386-87 §120.g). Here Gesenius suggests: “they are deeply/radically corrupted.” Several translations mirror the syntax of this hendiadys: “They have deeply corrupted themselves” (KJV, ASV, NRSV), “They have been grievously corrupt” (NJPS), and “They are hopelessly evil” (TEV). Others reverse the syntax for the sake of a more graphic English idiom: “They have gone deep in depravity” (NASB) and “They have sunk deep into corruption” (NIV). Some translations fail to represent the hendiadys at all: “You are brutal and corrupt” (CEV). The translation “They are deeply corrupted” mirrors the Hebrew syntax, but “They have sunk deep into corruption” seems preferable as a more graphic English idiom (cf. NAB “They have sunk to the depths of corruption”).
  2. Hosea 9:10 tn Heb “fathers”; a number of more recent English versions use the more general “ancestors” here.