New Living Translation
Hosea 7:16
16They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.
Hosea 7:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- New International Version (NIV)They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- New King James Version (NKJV)They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Context of Hosea 7:16
14They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine, and they turn away from me. 15I trained them and made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me. They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.
Read all of Hosea 7Hosea 7:16 word by word
יָשׁ֣וּבוּ׀ לֹ֣א עָ֗ל הָיוּ֙ כְּקֶ֣שֶׁת רְמִיָּ֔ה יִפְּל֥וּ בַחֶ֛רֶב שָׂרֵיהֶ֖ם מִזַּ֣עַם לְשׁוֹנָ֑ם ז֥וֹ לַעְגָּ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- They returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- not to the most Highעַל‛al · heightH5920
- they are like a deceitfulרְמִיָּהremîyâh · deceitH7423
- bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
- their princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- shall fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: killH5307
- by the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- for the rageזַ֫עַםza‛am · indignationH2195
- of their tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongueH3956
- thisזוֹzô · thisH2097
- their derisionלַ֫עַגla‛ag · derisionH3933
- in the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
Cross-references for Hosea 7:16
- Hosea 6:4“O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
- Hosea 8:14Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities and will burn up their fortresses.”
- Hosea 11:7For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.
- Psalms 78:37Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant.
- Jeremiah 3:10But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
- Luke 8:13The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.
- Luke 11:24“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’
- Psalms 78:57They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow.
- Hosea 7:13“What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me! Let them die, for they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them, but they have told lies about me.
- Psalms 12:4They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
- Psalms 52:2All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies.
- Psalms 57:4I am surrounded by fierce lions who greedily devour human prey— whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows, and whose tongues cut like swords.
- Psalms 73:9They boast against the very heavens, and their words strut throughout the earth.
- Isaiah 3:8For Jerusalem will stumble, and Judah will fall, because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him. They provoke him to his face.
- Jeremiah 18:18Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”
- Matthew 12:36And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.
Commentaries on Hosea 7:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16They return, but not to the Most High - They go to their idols. They are like a deceitful bow - Which, when it is reflexed, in order to be strung, suddenly springs back into its quiescent curve; for the eastern bows stand in their quiescent state in a curve; and in order to be strung must be beaded back in the opposite direction. This bending of the bow requires both strength and skill; and if not properly done, it will fly back, and regain its former…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16They return, but not to the most High - God exhorts by Jeremiah, “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto Me” Jeremiah 4:1. They changed, whenever they did change, with a feigned, hypocritical conversion, but not to God, nor acknowledging His Majesty. Man, until truly converted, turns to and fro, unstably, hither and thither, changing from one evil to another, from the sins of youth to the sins of age, from the sins of prosperity to the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may howl forth their terrors in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16A faulty or loose bow cannot shoot an arrow to the target. This represents Israel's failure without God (see Hosea 7:8, 11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is not the Most High," one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the Septuagint. deceitful bow--(Psa 78:57). A bow which, from its faulty construction, shoots wide of the mark. So Israel pretends to seek God, but turns aside to idols. for the rage of their tongue--their boast of safety from Egyptian aid, and their "lies" (Ho 7:13), whereby they pretended to serve God, while worshipping idols…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 7:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries