Hosea 11 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Continuing Love for Israel

God’s Love for Faithless Israel

Hos 11:1“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.

Hos 11:2As they called them,[fn]
So they went from them;[fn]
They sacrificed to the Baals,
And burned incense to carved images.

Hos 11:3

Hos 11:3“I taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by their arms;[fn]
But they did not know that I healed them.

Hos 11:4

Hos 11:4I drew them with gentle cords,[fn]
With bands of love,
And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.[fn]
I stooped and fed them.

Hos 11:5

Hos 11:5“He shall not return to the land of Egypt;
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.

Hos 11:6

Hos 11:6And the sword shall slash in his cities,
Devour his districts,
And consume them,
Because of their own counsels.

Hos 11:7

Hos 11:7My people are bent on backsliding from Me.
Though they call to the Most High,[fn]
None at all exalt Him.

Hos 11:8

Hos 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.

Hos 11:9

Hos 11:9I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not come with terror.[fn]

Hos 11:10

Hos 11:10“They shall walk after the LORD.
He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;

Hos 11:11

Hos 11:11They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the LORD.

God’s Charge Against Ephraim

Hos 11:12

Hos 11:12“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the Holy One[fn] who is faithful.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(11:2)

Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint reads Just as I called them; Targum interprets as I sent prophets to a thousand of them.

(11:2)

Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads from My face.

(11:3)

Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read My arms.

(11:4)

Literally cords of a man

(11:4)

Literally jaws

(11:7)

Or upward

(11:9)

Or I will not enter a city

(11:12)

Or holy ones

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.