Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.
- BSB You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,
- NKJV You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.
- NASB You have plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your many warriors,
- NLT “But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies— trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel reaped the bitter harvest of its own wickedness because it trusted in deceit and military strength instead of God. It warns that misplaced trust yields ruin.
Overview
In direct contrast to the call to sow righteousness, Israel had sown wickedness and lived on lies. Their confidence rested in their own way and their warriors rather than in the Lord. The principle that one reaps what one sows runs through Scripture and exposes the futility of trusting human power over the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 4:8Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
- Gal 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Prov 1:31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Prov 22:8He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
- Hos 8:7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
- Prov 18:20–21A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
- Ps 62:10Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
- Ps 52:7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
- Prov 19:5A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
- Hos 7:3They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
- Eccl 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
- Prov 12:19The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
- Ps 33:16There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
- Hos 11:12Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
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Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 10:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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