Hosea 4:6

4:6 You have destroyed ¹  my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ² 

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject ³  the law of your God,

I will reject ⁴  your descendants.

Hosea 4:2

4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

They resort to violence and bloodshed. ⁵ 

Hosea 1:1

Superscription

1:1 ⁶ This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea ⁷  son of Beeri during the time when ⁸  Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, ⁹  and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ¹⁰  ruled Israel. ¹¹ 

Hosea 1:1

Superscription

1:1 ¹² This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea ¹³  son of Beeri during the time when ¹⁴  Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, ¹⁵  and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ¹⁶  ruled Israel. ¹⁷ 

Nehemiah 9:26

9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ¹⁸  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

Psalms 50:17

50:17 For you hate instruction

and reject my words. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 30:9

30:9 For these are rebellious people –

they are lying children,

children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 6:16-17

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ²¹ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ²² 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ²³  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ²⁴  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

6:17 The Lord said, ²⁵ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ²⁶  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ²⁷ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

¹ tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

² tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”

³ tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”

⁴ tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”

⁵ tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).

⁶ tc The textual problems in Hosea are virtually unparalleled in the OT. The Masoretic Text (MT), represented by the Leningrad Codex (c. a.d. 1008), which served as the basis for both BHK and BHS, and the Aleppo Codex (c. a.d. 952), are textually corrupt by all accounts and have a multitude of scribal errors. Many medieval Masoretic mss preserve textual variants that differ from the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices. The Qumran materials (4QXII^c,d,g) contain numerous textual variants that differ from the MT; unfortunately, these texts are quite fragmentary (frequently in the very place that an important textual problem appears). The textual tradition and translation quality of the LXX and the early Greek recensions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) is mixed; in some places they are inferior to the MT but in other places they preserve a better reading. The textual apparatus of BHK and BHS contains many proposed emendations based on the ancient versions (Greek, Syriac, Latin, Aramaic) that often appear to be superior readings than what is preserved in the MT. In numerous cases, the MT readings are so difficult morphologically, syntactically, and contextually that conservative conjectural emendations are necessary to make sense of the text. Most major English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV, NKJV, NJPS, NJB, NRSV, REB, NCV, CEV, NLT) adopt (either occasionally or frequently) textual variants reflected in the versions and occasionally adopt conservative conjectural emendations proposed in BHK and/or BHS. However, many of the textual problems in Hosea are so difficult that the English versions frequently are split among themselves. With this in mind, the present translation of Hosea must necessarily be viewed as only preliminary. Further work on the text and translation of Hosea is needed, not only in terms of the NET Bible but in Hosea studies in general. The text of Hosea should be better clarified when the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project completes work on the book of Hosea. For further study of textual problems in Hosea, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:228-71.

⁷ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which was to Hosea.” The words “This is” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “in the days of” (again later in this verse). Cf. NASB “during the days of”; NIV “during the reigns of”; NLT “during the years when.”

⁹ tn Heb “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

¹⁰ sn Joash is a variation of the name Jehoash. Some English versions use “Jehoash” here (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

¹¹ tn Heb “Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”

¹² tc The textual problems in Hosea are virtually unparalleled in the OT. The Masoretic Text (MT), represented by the Leningrad Codex (c. a.d. 1008), which served as the basis for both BHK and BHS, and the Aleppo Codex (c. a.d. 952), are textually corrupt by all accounts and have a multitude of scribal errors. Many medieval Masoretic mss preserve textual variants that differ from the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices. The Qumran materials (4QXII^c,d,g) contain numerous textual variants that differ from the MT; unfortunately, these texts are quite fragmentary (frequently in the very place that an important textual problem appears). The textual tradition and translation quality of the LXX and the early Greek recensions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) is mixed; in some places they are inferior to the MT but in other places they preserve a better reading. The textual apparatus of BHK and BHS contains many proposed emendations based on the ancient versions (Greek, Syriac, Latin, Aramaic) that often appear to be superior readings than what is preserved in the MT. In numerous cases, the MT readings are so difficult morphologically, syntactically, and contextually that conservative conjectural emendations are necessary to make sense of the text. Most major English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV, NKJV, NJPS, NJB, NRSV, REB, NCV, CEV, NLT) adopt (either occasionally or frequently) textual variants reflected in the versions and occasionally adopt conservative conjectural emendations proposed in BHK and/or BHS. However, many of the textual problems in Hosea are so difficult that the English versions frequently are split among themselves. With this in mind, the present translation of Hosea must necessarily be viewed as only preliminary. Further work on the text and translation of Hosea is needed, not only in terms of the NET Bible but in Hosea studies in general. The text of Hosea should be better clarified when the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project completes work on the book of Hosea. For further study of textual problems in Hosea, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:228-71.

¹³ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which was to Hosea.” The words “This is” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴ tn Heb “in the days of” (again later in this verse). Cf. NASB “during the days of”; NIV “during the reigns of”; NLT “during the years when.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

¹⁶ sn Joash is a variation of the name Jehoash. Some English versions use “Jehoash” here (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

¹⁷ tn Heb “Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”

²⁰ tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”

²¹ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

²² tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

²³ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

²⁴ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

²⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

²⁶ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

²⁷ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.