Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
Parallel translations
- KJV Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
- BSB So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.
- ESV But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
- NKJV Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness.
- NASB Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
- NLT I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 will be like a moth to Ephraim and like rot to Judah, slowly wasting them away. Their decay will be quiet but certain.
Overview
The images of a consuming moth and creeping rottenness depict a judgment that works gradually but inexorably, eating away at the nations from within. Rather than a single dramatic blow, God describes a slow, steady decay that exposes the people's inner corruption. The verse warns that the consequences of sin often unfold quietly over time, and it sets the stage for the call to repentance that follows, where the only remedy is to return to the Lord who alone can heal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 51:8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
- Jonah 4:7But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.
- Job 13:28though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
- Isa 50:9Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me! Who is he who will condemn me? Behold, they will all grow old like a garment. The moths will eat them up.
- Mark 9:43–48If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,
- Prov 12:4A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.
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 5:12 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.