Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
Parallel translations
- WEB Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
- KJV Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
- NKJV Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!
- NASB Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them of their children until not a person is left. Yes, woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
- NLT Even if you do have children who grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone.
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
Even if they raise children, God will bereave them, and woe comes upon them when He departs.
Overview
Any children who are born will not be spared, and the deepest woe is God's own departure from His people. The withdrawal of His presence is the ultimate judgment, worse than any other loss. This sobering word reveals that the greatest blessing is God with us, fulfilled in Immanuel, and the greatest calamity is to be forsaken by Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Hos 7:13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.
- Hos 9:16Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs.
- Deut 31:17On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’
- Deut 32:25Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, terror will strike the young man and the young woman, the infant and the gray-haired man.
- 1 Sam 16:14After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.
- Deut 28:32Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
- 2 Kgs 17:18So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,
- Jer 15:7I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I will bereave and destroy My people who have not turned from their ways.
- 1 Sam 28:15–16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am deeply distressed,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
- Hos 9:13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter.
- Jer 16:3–4For this is what the LORD says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and the mothers who bore them, and the fathers who fathered them in this land:
- Hos 9:5–6What will you do on the appointed day, on the day of the LORD’s feast?
- Num 26:65For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- Job 27:14Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
- Lam 2:20Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Deut 28:41–42You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
- 2 Kgs 17:23Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.
- Judg 4:16Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
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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 9:12 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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