Hosea 9:16

9:16 Ephraim will be struck down ¹  –

their root will be dried up;

they will not yield any fruit.

Even if they do bear children,

I will kill their precious offspring.

Hosea 14:5-7

14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily,

he will send down his roots like a cedar of ²  Lebanon.

14:6 His young shoots will grow;

his splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

14:7 People will reside again ³  in his shade;

they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. ⁴ 

They will blossom like a vine,

and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

[9:16]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, following the plant metaphor, “will be blighted” (NIV similar).

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “like Lebanon” (so KJV; also in the following verse). The phrase “a cedar of” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in translation for clarity. Cf. TEV “the trees of Lebanon”; NRSV “the forests of Lebanon.”

[14:7]  ³ tn Hosea uses the similar-sounding terms יָשֻׁבוּ יֹשְׁבֵי (yashuvu yoshve, “the dwellers will return”) to create a wordplay between the roots שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) and יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell; to reside”).

[14:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will cause the grain to live” or “they will revive the grain.” Some English versions treat this as a comparison: “they shall revive as the corn” (KJV); “will flourish like the grain” (NIV).