They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
Parallel translations
- WEB They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
- KJV They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
- NKJV They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
- NASB They speak mere words, With worthless oaths they make covenants; And judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
- NLT They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.
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
They speak empty words and swear false oaths in making covenants, so injustice springs up like poisonous weeds in the field.
Overview
Israel's dealings are marked by broken promises and false swearing, corrupting both society and its agreements. The result is judgment that sprouts like bitter, poisonous weeds among the furrows. The verse condemns covenant-breaking and dishonesty, contrasting them with the faithful and true God who keeps every promise in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Hos 4:2Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Amos 6:12“Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
- Amos 5:7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
- 2 Kgs 17:3–4Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
- Ezek 17:13–19He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,
- Deut 29:18Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Rev 8:10–11Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
- Isa 59:13–15rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
- Heb 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
- 2 Tim 3:3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
- Hos 6:7But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Rom 1:31They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
- Acts 8:23For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 10:4 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.