I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
Parallel translations
- WEB Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’
- BSB Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?
- NKJV I will be your King; Where is any other, That he may save you in all your cities? And your judges to whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?
- NASB Where then is your king, That he might save you in all your cities; And your judges, to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?
- NLT Now where is your king? Let him save you! Where are all the leaders of the land, the king and the officials you demanded of 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 asks where the king and rulers are who were supposed to save Israel. It exposes the failure of the human kingship they had demanded.
Overview
Israel had once clamored for a king to deliver them, but no king can rescue them now from God's judgment. The rhetorical questions expose the emptiness of trusting human rulers over the Lord. True salvation belongs not to earthly kings but to God, fulfilled in the King who truly saves, Jesus Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Hos 8:4They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
- 1 Sam 8:5–6And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
- Hos 10:3For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
- Zech 14:9And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
- Ps 10:16The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
- Jer 2:28But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
- John 1:49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
- 1 Kgs 12:20And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
- Isa 33:22For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
- 2 Kgs 17:4And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
- Deut 32:37–39And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
- Ps 149:2Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
- Isa 43:15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
- 1 Sam 8:19–20Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
- Ps 74:12For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
- Ps 89:18For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
- Hos 13:4Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
- Judg 2:16–18Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
- Ps 47:6–7Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
- Ps 44:4Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
- 1 Sam 12:11–12And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
- Jer 8:19Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
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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 13:10 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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