Hosea 8:11
9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
12 Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
- KJV
- Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
- WEB
- Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning.
- ASV
- Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.
- DARBY
- Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
- BLB
- Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, they have become unto him altars for sinning.
- ÅB
- Fordi Efra'im har gjort seg så mange alter til å synde med, er de blitt ham alter til synd.
- OTB
- Som Efraim har økt altere for synd,
Har de blitt altere for synd for ham. - B1930
- Fordi Efra'im har gjort sig så mange alter til å synde med, er de blitt ham alter til synd.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Hosea 12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 4:28
And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
Read in contextIsaiah 10:10–11
As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
Read in contextHosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
Read in contextJeremiah 16:13
So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
Read in contextHosea 10:1–2
Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
Read in context