Hosea 5:1

Announcement of Sin and Judgment

5:1 Hear this, you priests!

Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹ 

Listen closely, ²  O king! ³ 

For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴ 

For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶ 

like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

Hosea 6:10

6:10 I have seen a disgusting thing in the temple of Israel:

there Ephraim practices temple prostitution

and Judah defiles itself.

Hosea 11:12--12:1

God’s Lawsuit against Israel: Breach of Covenant

11:12 (12:1) ⁹  Ephraim has surrounded me with lies;

the house of Israel has surrounded me ¹⁰  with deceit.

But Judah still roams about with ¹¹  God;

he remains faithful to the Holy One.

12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;

he chases the east wind all day;

he multiplies lies and violence.

They make treaties ¹²  with Assyria,

and send olive oil as tribute ¹³  to Egypt.

Yesaya 59:12

59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, ¹⁴ 

and our sins testify against us;

indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;

we know our sins all too well. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 9:2-6

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ¹⁶ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ¹⁷  of people that has been disloyal to him. ¹⁸ 

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ¹⁹ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ²⁰ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ²¹ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ²² 

and do not pay attention to me. ²³ 

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ²⁴ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ²⁵ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ²⁶  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ²⁷ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ²⁸ 

says the Lord.

Mikha 7:3-7

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ²⁹ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ³⁰ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ³¹ 

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ³² 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ³³ 

and then you will experience confusion. ³⁴ 

7:5 Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust a companion!

Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! ³⁵ 

7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,

a daughter challenges ³⁶  her mother,

and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;

a man’s enemies are his own servants. ³⁷ 

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ³⁸ 

[5:1]  ¹ tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “Use the ear”; ASV “give ear.”

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); NIV “O royal house.”

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you.” Cf. NIV “This judgment is against you.”

[5:1]  ⁵ sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, used in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively to refer to (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”

[5:1]  ⁷ sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) in figurative descriptions of the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).

[5:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”

[11:12]  ⁹ sn Beginning with 11:12, the verse numbers through 12:14 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 11:12 ET = 12:1 HT, 12:1 ET = 12:2 HT, etc., through 12:14 ET = 12:15 HT. From 13:1 to 13:16 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[11:12]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “has surrounded me” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here, but is implied by the parallelism in the preceding line. It is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons, smoothness, and readability.

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn The verb רוּד (rud, “to roam about freely”) is used in a concrete sense to refer to someone wandering restlessly and roaming back and forth (BDB 923 s.v. רוּד; Judg 11:37). Here, it is used figuratively, possibly with positive connotations, as indicated by the preposition עִם (’im, “with”), to indicate accompaniment: “but Judah still goes about with God” (HALOT 1194 s.v. רוד). Some English versions render it positively: “Judah still walks with God” (RSV, NRSV); “Judah is restive under God” (REB); “but Judah stands firm with God” (NJPS); “but Judah yet ruleth with God” (KJV, ASV). Other English versions adopt the negative connotation “to wander restlessly” and nuance עִם in an adversative sense (“against”): “Judah is still rebellious against God” (NAB), “Judah is unruly against God” (NIV), and “the people of Judah are still rebelling against me” (TEV).

[12:1]  ¹² tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”

[59:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”

[59:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”

[9:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[9:3]  ¹⁹ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ²² tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ²³ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:4]  sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

[9:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[9:6]  ²⁷ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[7:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ³¹ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.

[7:4]  ³² tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.

[7:4]  ³³ tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”

[7:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

[7:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”

[7:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[7:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”

[7:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.