5:7 They have committed treason 1 against the Lord,
because they bore illegitimate children.
Soon 2 the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.
7:9 Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, 3
but he does not recognize it!
His head is filled with gray hair,
but he does not realize it!
8:7 They sow the wind,
and so they will reap the whirlwind!
The stalk does not have any standing grain;
it will not produce any flour.
Even if it were to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it all up.
1 tn Heb “dealt treacherously against” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “dealt faithlessly”; NLT “betrayed the honor of.”
2 tn The particle עַתָּה (’attah) often refers to the imminent or the impending future: “very soon” (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b). In Hosea it normally introduces imminent judgment (Hos 2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2).
3 tn Heb “foreigners consume his strength”; NRSV “devour (sap NIV) his strength.”