They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
Parallel translations
- WEB They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
- KJV They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
- 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.
- 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 Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.
- Ps 144:7Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners;
- Ps 144:11Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
- Isa 48:8Yes, you didn’t hear; yes, you didn’t know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.
- Jer 3:20“Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says Yahweh.
- Hos 2:4Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;
- Ezek 12:28“Therefore tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I speak will be performed,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”
- Neh 13:23–24In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
- Isa 59:13transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Hos 2:11I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
- Mal 2:11–15Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
- Zech 11:8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
- Jer 5:11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says Yahweh.
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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 5:7 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.