Now Israel pleads with me, ‘Help us, for you are our God!’
Parallel translations
- WEB They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’
- KJV Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
- BSB Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
- NKJV Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’
- NASB They cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know You!”
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
Israel cries out claiming to know God, even while their lives deny Him.
Overview
The people protest their relationship with God, professing acknowledgment of Him with their lips. Yet, as the surrounding verses show, this confession is contradicted by their idolatry and rebellion. The verse exposes empty profession, warning that saying "my God" means nothing without the obedience of faith, a theme Jesus echoes regarding those who say "Lord, Lord" but do not do the Father's will.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 7:21Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- Titus 1:16They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
- Hos 7:13–14Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
- Jer 7:4Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’
- Ps 78:34–37When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
- Luke 13:25When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
- Isa 48:1–2“Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by Yahweh’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
- 2 Kgs 10:29However, Jehu didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
- Matt 25:11Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
- 2 Kgs 10:16He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they made him ride in his chariot.
- 1 Jn 2:4One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
- Hos 5:15I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 8:2 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.