16 They turn back -- not to the Most High, They have been as a deceitful bow, Fall by sword do their princes, From the insolence of their tongue, This `is' their derision in the land of Egypt!
And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,
They do not abide in the land of Jehovah, And turned back hath Ephraim `to' Egypt, And in Asshur an unclean thing they eat.
They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.
For, lo, they have gone because of destruction, Egypt gathereth them, Moph burieth them, The desirable things of their silver, Nettles possess them -- a thorn `is' in their tents.
`And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment;
And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things, and evil-speakings, and there was given to it authority to make war forty-two months,
so also the tongue is a little member, and doth boast greatly; lo, a little fire how much wood it doth kindle!
`When the unclean spirit may go forth from the man it walketh through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding, it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth; and having come, it findeth `it' swept and adorned; then doth it go, and take to it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there, and the last of that man becometh worst than the first.'
Mischiefs doth thy tongue devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit.
And My people are hanging in suspense, about My returning, And unto the Most High they do call, Together they exalt not.
The sacrifices of Mine offerings! They sacrifice flesh, and they eat, Jehovah hath not accepted them, Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin, They -- `to' Egypt they turn back. And forget doth Israel his Maker, and buildeth temples, And Judah hath multiplied cities of defence, And I have sent a fire into his cities, And it hath consumed their palaces!
Wo to them, for they wandered from Me, Destruction to them, for they transgressed against Me, And I -- I ransom them, and they have spoken lies against Me,
What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness `is' as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early -- going.
And they say, Come, And we devise against Jeremiah devices, For law doth not perish from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, Nor the word from the prophet, Come, and we smite him with the tongue, And we do not attend to any of his words.
And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto Me with all her heart, but with falsehood, an affirmation of Jehovah.'
And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 7
Commentary on Hosea 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter we have,
Hsa 7:1-7
Some take away the last words of the foregoing chapter, and make them the beginning of this: "When I returned, or would have returned, the captivity of my people, when I was about to come towards them in ways of mercy, even when I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim (the country and common people) was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria, the court and the chief city.' Now, in these verses, we may observe,
Hsa 7:8-16
Having seen how vicious and corrupt the court was, we now come to enquire how it is with the country, and we find that to be no better; and no marvel if the distemper that has so seized the head affect the whole body, so that there is no soundness in it; the iniquity of Ephraim is discovered, as well as the sin of Samaria, of the people as well as the princes, of which here are divers instances.