They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.
- BSB Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.
- NKJV “They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord.
- NASB Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of infidelity is within them, And they do not know the Lord.
- NLT Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.
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
Their sinful deeds keep them from returning to God, for a spirit of unfaithfulness controls them and they do not know Him. Sin has become a self-perpetuating bondage.
Overview
Israel's habitual sin has so gripped them that repentance has become difficult; their deeds 'won't allow them to turn.' The 'spirit of prostitution' within them and their failure to 'know Yahweh' reveal a heart enslaved to idolatry. The verse shows how sin entangles and blinds, hardening people against return to God. It points to humanity's need for God's gracious initiative to free and renew the heart, a deliverance fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Hos 4:12My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
- 1 Jn 2:3–4And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
- John 8:55Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
- John 16:3And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- 2 Th 2:11–12And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
- Hos 4:1Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
- John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- Jer 9:24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
- Jer 24:7And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
- Jer 22:15–16Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
- Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
- Jer 50:38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
- 1 Sam 2:12Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
- Ps 36:1–4The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
- Ps 78:8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
- Jer 9:6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
- Ps 9:10And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
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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 5:4 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
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