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Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
Hosea 10:2 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
  • BSB Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.
  • NKJV Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars.
  • NASB Their heart is deceitful; Now they must suffer for their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars And destroy their memorial stones.
  • NLT The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The Lord will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.

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

Their heart is divided, so now they bear their guilt; God will break down their altars and ruin their idolatrous pillars.

Overview

Israel's loyalty is split between the LORD and idols, and such a divided heart is itself guilt before God. Therefore He will tear down the very altars and pillars they trusted. The verse exposes the impossibility of serving God halfheartedly and anticipates the call to undivided devotion, for one cannot serve two masters.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • 1 Kgs 18:21Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
  • Mic 5:13I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out from among you; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
  • Jas 4:4You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
  • Luke 16:13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
  • Jas 1:8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
  • Rev 3:15–16“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.
  • Zeph 1:5those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,
  • Matt 6:24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
  • Hos 7:8Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.
  • Hos 8:5–6Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
  • Hos 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
  • Isa 44:18They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
  • 1 Sam 5:4When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before Yahweh’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact.
  • Hos 10:5–8The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it.
  • Jer 43:13He shall also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he shall burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”
  • Zech 13:2It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
  • 1 Jn 2:15Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
  • 2 Th 2:11–12Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 10:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 10:2 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.