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!
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!
- BSB Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away 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 unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
- Hos 9:16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
- Deut 31:17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
- Deut 32:25The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
- 1 Sam 16:14But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
- Deut 28:32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand:
- 2 Kgs 17:18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
- Jer 15:7And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.
- 1 Sam 28:15–16And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
- Hos 9:13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
- Jer 16:3–4For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
- Hos 9:5–6What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?
- Num 26:65For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
- Job 27:14If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
- Lam 2:20Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Deut 28:41–42Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
- 2 Kgs 17:23Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
- Judg 4:16But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man 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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