Limitless Word
In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
Hosea 7:5 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers.
  • BSB The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
  • NKJV In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
  • NASB On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers,
  • NLT On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine, carousing with those who mock 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

On the king's feast day, the officials grew sick with wine, and the king joined hands with mockers.

Overview

A royal celebration becomes an occasion of drunkenness and scorn, with the king himself allying with those who mock God. The leaders' debauchery shows the rot at the heart of the nation's government. This portrait of corrupt revelry stands in stark contrast to the sober, righteous reign that God's true King would bring.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Dan 5:23But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
  • 1 Pet 4:3–4For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
  • Ps 69:12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
  • Gen 40:20And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
  • Ps 1:1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
  • Eph 5:18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
  • Isa 28:1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
  • Prov 13:20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
  • Mark 6:21And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
  • 1 Kgs 13:4And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
  • Isa 5:11–12Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
  • Dan 5:1–4Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
  • Isa 5:22–23Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
  • Prov 20:1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
  • Prov 23:29–35Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
  • Matt 14:6But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
  • Isa 28:7–8But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
  • Hab 2:15–16Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 7:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 7:5 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.