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10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations,[a]
I will soon gather them together for judgment.[b]
Then[c] they will begin to waste away
under the oppression of a mighty king.[d]

Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience

11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,
but they regard it as something totally unknown[e] to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 8:10 tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”
  2. Hosea 8:10 tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment; see the parallel in 9:6).
  3. Hosea 8:10 tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite third person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”
  4. Hosea 8:10 tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); cf. TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”
  5. Hosea 8:12 tn Heb “foreign” or “alien”; cf. NASB, NRSV “as a strange thing.”