And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Parallel translations
- WEB My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
- BSB My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
- 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 is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
- Amos 5:4–6For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
- Amos 5:14–15Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
- Jer 3:6–8The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
- Prov 14:14The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
- Hos 7:16They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- Ps 81:11But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
- Ps 78:57–58But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
- Hos 14:4I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
- Jer 3:11And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
- Hos 11:2As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
- 2 Chr 30:1–11And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
- Jer 14:7O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
- Hos 4:16For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 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.