They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won’t find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.
- BSB They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they do not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.
- NKJV “With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.
- NASB They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.
- NLT When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.
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
When the people finally seek the Lord with their sacrifices, they will not find Him, for He has withdrawn. Late, insincere seeking cannot compel God's favor.
Overview
Israel will bring flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but the search will fail because God has withdrawn Himself in judgment. The problem is not God's unwillingness to be found by the truly repentant, but a seeking that relies on outward sacrifice without genuine turning of heart. The verse warns that there comes a point where formal religion cannot recover what unrepentant sin has forfeited, underscoring the need to seek God sincerely while He may be found.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Prov 1:28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
- John 7:34Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
- Mic 6:6–7Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
- Ezek 8:6He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Lam 3:44Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
- Isa 1:11–15To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
- Jer 7:4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
- Isa 66:3He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
- Exod 10:9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
- Prov 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
- Luke 5:16And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
- Amos 5:21–23I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
- Jer 11:11Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
- Exod 10:24–26And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
- Song 5:6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
- Mic 3:4Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
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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 5:6 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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