Hosea 4:18

The Shameful Sinners Will Be Brought to Shame

4:18 They consume their alcohol,

then engage in cult prostitution;

they dearly love their shameful behavior.

Hosea 5:2

5:2 Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, ¹ 

but I will discipline them all. ² 

Hosea 10:2

10:2 Their heart is slipping;

soon they will be punished for their guilt.

The Lord ³  will break their altars;

he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

Hosea 12:12

Jacob in Aram, Israel in Egypt, and Ephraim in Trouble

12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,

then Israel worked ⁴  to acquire a wife;

he tended sheep to pay for her.

[5:2]  ¹ tc The MT reads וְשַׁחֲטָה שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhatah setim he’miqu): “and rebels have made deep the slaughter.” The BHS editors propose ושַׁחַת הַשִּׁטִּים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhat hashittim he’miqu): “they have made the pit of Shittim [place of idolatry] deep” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT; see BDB 1006 s.v. שַׁחֲטָּה). This involves: (1) phonological confusion between the similar sounding consonants ת (tav) and ט (tet), (2) redivision of words to take ה (hey) as the article with הַשִּׁטִּים rather than feminine noun ending of וְשַׁחֲטָה, and (3) revocalization of הַשִּׁטִּים with the two daghesh fortes. Retaining the reading of the MT is preferable here.

[5:2]  tn Heb “and those who revolt have gone deep into slaughter” (similar KJV, NIV); NASB “deep in depravity.”

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “but I am discipline to all of them”; ASV “but I am a rebuker of them all.”

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “served” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “earned a wife.”