Hosea 2:12

2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ¹ 

that my lovers gave to me!”

I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ²  into an uncultivated thicket,

so that wild animals ³  will devour them.

Hosea 4:16

4:16 Israel has rebelled ⁴  like a stubborn heifer!

Soon ⁵  the Lord will put them out to pasture

like a lamb in a broad field! ⁶ 

Hosea 5:7

5:7 They have committed treason ⁷  against the Lord,

because they bore illegitimate children.

Soon ⁸  the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.

Hosea 8:8

8:8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;

they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.

Hosea 8:13

8:13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me,

and eat the meat,

but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. ⁹ 

Soon he will remember their wrongdoing,

he will punish their sins,

and they will return to Egypt.

Hosea 10:2

10:2 Their heart is slipping;

soon they will be punished for their guilt.

The Lord ¹⁰  will break their altars;

he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. CEV “gave…as payment for sex.”

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).

[4:16]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb “has rebelled” (סָרַר, sarar) can also mean “to be stubborn.” This is the same root used in the simile: “like a stubborn (סֹרֵרָה, sorerah) heifer.” The similarity between Israel and a stubborn heifer is emphasized by the repetition of the same term.

[4:16]  ⁵ 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).

[4:16]  ⁶ tn Or “How can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow?” The syntax of this line is difficult and has been understood in two ways: (1) a declarative statement as an announcement of judgment (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b): “Now the Lord will feed them like a lamb in the broad field” (cf. KJV, ASV, NCV, NLT) or (2) as a rhetorical question lamenting the uncooperative spirit of Israel: “How can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow?”; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV), designed to produce a negative answer (“He cannot feed them…!”). However, this statement lacks an explicit interrogative marker. Although Hosea occasionally asks a rhetorical question without an explicit interrogative marker (e.g., 10:9; 13:14a), he normally does use a rhetorical particle to introduce rhetorical questions (e.g., 6:4; 8:5; 9:5, 14; 11:8; 13:9-10, 14b). Elsewhere, Hosea uses the introductory temporal adverb עַתָּה (“soon”) to introduce announcements of imminent future judgment (2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2) and accusations of sin (5:3; 13:2). Although Israel has been as rebellious as a stubborn heifer, the Lord will indeed gain control of Israel: they will be like lambs (weakened and defeated) when he puts them out to pasture in a broad field (exile).

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “dealt treacherously against” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “dealt faithlessly”; NLT “betrayed the honor of.”

[5:7]  ⁸ 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).

[8:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “does not accept them”; the referent (their sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.