I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.
Parallel translations
- WEB Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;
- KJV And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
- NKJV “I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry.
- NASB “Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are children of infidelity.
- NLT And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.
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 says He will withhold mercy from the children because they share in the nation's unfaithfulness. No one is exempt from the consequences of corporate sin.
Overview
The 'children of unfaithfulness' represent a generation shaped by idolatry, not innocent bystanders. Their condition reflects how sin spreads through a people and across generations. Yet this verse, like the surrounding judgment, sits within a book that ultimately moves toward restored mercy, reminding readers that God's discipline aims at recovery and that grace can break even inherited patterns of rebellion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 13:14I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- Hos 1:2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
- Ezek 8:18Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Ezek 9:10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
- Jer 16:5Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.
- Hos 1:6Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.
- Isa 57:3“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
- Rom 11:22Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
- Isa 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- John 8:41You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”
- 2 Kgs 9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
- Rom 9:18Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- Zech 1:12Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
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 2:4 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.