They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
Parallel translations
- WEB They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
- BSB They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land.
- NKJV They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
- NASB They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have given birth to illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their land.
- NLT They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.
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
The people have been faithless to God and raised children in their unfaithfulness, so judgment will swiftly consume them. Betrayal of the covenant brings sure destruction.
Overview
By bearing 'illegitimate children,' Israel has not only sinned but propagated her unfaithfulness into the next generation, perpetuating idolatry. Their treachery against the Lord invites swift judgment, pictured as the new moon devouring them and their fields. The verse shows how covenant unfaithfulness corrupts families and communities, and how it ultimately calls down the consuming judgment of a holy God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Hos 6:7But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
- Ps 144:7Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
- Ps 144:11Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
- Isa 48:8Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
- Jer 3:20Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
- Hos 2:4And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
- Ezek 12:28Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.
- Neh 13:23–24In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
- Isa 59:13In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Hos 2:11I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
- Mal 2:11–15Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
- Zech 11:8Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
- Jer 5:11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
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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 5:7 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.