Hosea 4:17

4:17 Ephraim has attached himself to idols;

Do not go near him!

Hosea 13:12

Israel’s Punishment Will Not Be Withheld Much Longer

13:12 The punishment ¹  of Ephraim has been decreed; ² 

his punishment is being stored up for the future.

Hosea 5:3

5:3 I know Ephraim all too well; ³ 

the evil of ⁴  Israel is not hidden from me.

For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;

Israel has defiled itself. ⁵ 

[13:12]  ¹ tn The noun עָוֹן (’avon) has a three-fold range of meanings: (1) “iniquity,” so KJV, NASB, NRSV; (2) “guilt,” so NAB, NIV; and (3) “punishment” (BDB 730 s.v. עָוֹן). The oracle of 13:12-13 announces that Israel’s punishment, though momentarily withheld, will suddenly come upon her like labor pains that will kill her.

[13:12]  ² tn Heb “has been bound.” צָרַר (tsarar, “to bind”) refers elsewhere to the action of scribes binding a document into a sealed scroll of safekeeping (Isa 8:16; HALOT 1058 s.v. I צרר 1; BDB 864 s.v. צָרַר 1). Here it figuratively depicts the record of Israel’s sins being written down and permanently bound in a sealed scroll for safekeeping (cf. NCV, TEV “are on record”). The guilt of Israel’s sin will be retained.

[5:3]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; NCV “has made itself unclean”; TEV “are unfit to worship me.”