When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.
- KJV Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
- NKJV Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor.
- NASB Their liquor is gone, They prostitute themselves continually; Their rulers dearly love shame.
- NLT When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.
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
Even when their drink is gone, the people persist in immorality, and their rulers love their shameful ways. Corruption reaches from the people to the leaders.
Overview
Israel's addiction to immorality continues unabated, and its leaders, who should restrain evil, instead cherish disgraceful conduct. The verse shows how deeply sin has saturated every level of society, with the rulers loving what they ought to loathe. Such love of shame reveals a conscience so corrupted that evil has become desirable, the very condition that invites God's judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 30:15–16The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
- Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Ps 47:9The nobles of the nations have assembled as the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.
- Exod 23:8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Hos 4:10They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Hos 4:2Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Jer 2:21I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
- Amos 5:12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
- Deut 32:32–33But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
- 2 Kgs 17:7–17All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
- 1 Sam 12:3–4Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
- 1 Sam 8:3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
- Deut 16:19Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Isa 1:21–22See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
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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 4:18 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.