My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Parallel translations
- WEB My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.
- KJV My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
- NKJV My God will cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.
- NASB My God will reject them Because they have not listened to Him; And they will be wanderers among the nations.
- NLT My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations.
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
Because they would not listen, God will reject them, and they will become wanderers among the nations.
Overview
Hosea concludes the section by declaring that Israel's refusal to obey will lead to their being cast off and scattered as homeless wanderers. Disobedience to God's word brings the loss of place and identity. This dispersion stands as a solemn consequence of rejecting God, contrasted with the gathering of the scattered into one people through the gospel of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Deut 28:64–65Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- 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.
- Zech 1:4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.
- Zech 7:11–14But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Acts 3:23Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
- Isa 48:18If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
- Mic 7:7But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- Jer 35:15–17Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
- Jer 26:4–6And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you,
- Hos 4:10They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Amos 9:9“For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground.
- Deut 32:26I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- Neh 5:19Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.
- Ps 81:11–13But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- 2 Kgs 17:14–20But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- 2 Chr 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- Isa 7:13Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?
- Prov 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Jer 25:3–4“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
- 1 Kgs 14:15–16For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
- 2 Chr 18:13But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.”
- Ps 31:14But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- John 20:17“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
- Phil 4:19And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
- Amos 8:2“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”
- Jas 1:1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
- John 20:28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
- John 7:35At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 9:17 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.