O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.”
- KJV Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
- NKJV “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.”
- NASB ¶Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant juniper; From Me comes your fruit.
- NLT “O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from 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
Ephraim renounces idols, and God declares that he answers, cares for, and is the source of all their fruit. It shows God as the true and only provider of life.
Overview
The repentant people finally turn from idols, and God responds with assurance of his care. Comparing himself to a green cypress, ever fruitful, God claims to be the true source of everything good they have, in contrast to lifeless idols. This points to Christ, the true vine, apart from whom no lasting fruit can be borne.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Job 34:32Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Isa 41:19I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
- Isa 55:13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
- 1 Pet 4:3–4For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Luke 15:20So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
- Phil 2:13For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
- Eph 5:9for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
- Phil 1:11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Job 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
- John 1:16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
- John 1:47–48When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
- Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- 1 Pet 1:14–16As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Acts 19:18–20Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
- Isa 60:13The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.
- John 15:1–8“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
- 1 Th 1:9For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
- Hos 14:2–3Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.
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 14:8 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.