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.
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.”
- BSB 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.
- 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 34:32That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
- Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
- Isa 41:19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
- Isa 55:13Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
- 1 Pet 4:3–4For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
- Luke 15:20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- Phil 2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
- Eph 5:9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
- Phil 1:11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
- Job 33:27He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
- John 1:16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
- John 1:47–48Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
- Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
- 1 Pet 1:14–16As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
- Acts 19:18–20And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
- Isa 60:13The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
- John 15:1–8I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
- 1 Th 1:9For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
- Hos 14:2–3Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
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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 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
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