My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
Parallel translations
- WEB My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
- KJV And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
- NKJV My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him.
- NASB So My people are determined to turn from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.
- NLT For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.
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
God's people are stubbornly determined to turn away from him, and their hollow cries will not lift them up. It exposes the persistence of unrepentant hearts.
Overview
Israel is described as bent on backsliding, fixed in its rebellion. Even when they call to the Most High, their cries lack true repentance, so they receive no exaltation. The verse soberly shows that mere religious appeal without heart change does not save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 8:5Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
- Amos 5:4–6For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!
- Amos 5:14–15Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
- Jer 3:6–8Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
- Prov 14:14The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
- Hos 7:16They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
- Ps 81:11But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- Ps 78:57–58They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
- Hos 14:4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
- Jer 3:11And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
- Hos 11:2But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
- 2 Chr 30:1–11Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Jer 14:7Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.
- Hos 4:16For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:7 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.