Hosea 13:5

13:5 I cared ¹  for you in the wilderness,

in the dry desert where no water was. ² 

Hosea 5:14

The Lion Will Carry Israel Off Into Exile

5:14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim,

like a young lion to the house of Judah.

I myself will tear them to pieces,

then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!

Hosea 14:8

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ³  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ⁴  a luxuriant cypress tree; ⁵ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ⁶ 

Hosea 3:3

3:3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with ⁷  another man, and I also will wait for you.”

Hosea 4:6

4:6 You have destroyed ⁸  my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ⁹ 

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject ¹⁰  the law of your God,

I will reject ¹¹  your descendants.

Hosea 5:3

5:3 I know Ephraim all too well; ¹² 

the evil of ¹³  Israel is not hidden from me.

For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;

Israel has defiled itself. ¹⁴ 

[13:5]  ¹ tc The MT reads יְדַעְתִּיךָ (yÿda’tikha, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix from יָדַע, yada’, “to know”), followed by KJV, ASV (“I did know thee”). The LXX and Syriac reflect an alternate textual tradition of רְעִיתִיךָ (rÿ’it’kha, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix from רָעָה, ra’ah, “to feed”), which is followed by most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[13:5]  ² tn Heb “land of intense drought” or “intensely thirsty land.” The noun תַּלְאֻבוֹת (tal’uvot) occurs in the OT only here. It probably means “drought” (BDB 520 s.v. תַּלְאֻבָה). The related Arabic verb means “to be thirsty” and the related Arabic noun means “a stony tract of land.” The plural form (singular = תַּלְאֻבָה, tal’uvah) is a plural of intensity: “a [land] of intense drought.” The term functions as an attributive genitive, modifying the construct אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”). The phrase is variously rendered: “land of (+ great KJV) drought” (RSV, NASB), “thirsty land” (NJPS), “thirsty desert” (CEV), “dry, desert land” (TEV), and the metonymical (effect for cause) “land of burning heat” (NIV).

[14:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ⁴ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ⁵ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”

[3:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and you will not be for”; NIV “be intimate with.”

[4:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[4:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”

[5:3]  ⁹ tn The phrase “all too well” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “the evil of” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is implied by the metonymical (cause-effect) use of the term “Israel.” It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NCV “what they have done is not hidden from me.”

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; NCV “has made itself unclean”; TEV “are unfit to worship me.”