Passage

Hosea 10.12

Book: Hosea

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"10. When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions. 11. And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loveth to tread out the grain; but I have passed over upon her fair neck: I will set a rider on Ephraim; Judah shall plow, Jacob shall break his clods."

"12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Jehovah, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."

"13. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; for thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. 14. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces with her children." (Hosea 10:10-14, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"10. When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions. 11. Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods."

"12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you."

"13. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men. 14. Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children." (Hosea 10:10-14, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"10. It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. ^{when: or, when I shall bind them for their two transgressions, or, in their two habitations} 11. And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. ^{her: Heb. the beauty of her neck}"

"12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."

"13. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. 14. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children." (Hosea 10:10-14, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"10. When I desire, then I do bind them, And gathered against them have peoples, When they bind themselves to their two iniquities. 11. And Ephraim [is] a trained heifer, loving to thresh, And I, I have passed over on the goodness of its neck, I cause [one] to ride Ephraim, Plough doth Judah, harrow for him doth Jacob."

"12. Sow for yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to loving-kindness, Till for yourselves tillage of knowledge, To seek Jehovah, Till he come and shew righteousness to you."

"13. Ye have ploughed wickedness, Perversity ye have reaped, Ye have eaten the fruit of lying, For thou hast trusted in thy way, In the abundance of thy might. 14. And rise doth a tumult among thy people, And all thy fortresses are spoiled, As the spoiling of Shalman of Beth-Arbel, In a day of battle, Mother against sons dashed in pieces." (Hosea 10:10-14, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH through the prophet Hosea, addressed to Ephraim (the northern kingdom)
Audience: northern Israel in the decades before the Assyrian destruction (722 BC)
Location: northern kingdom; Hosea's ministry runs through the reigns of Jeroboam II and his successors
Time period: c. 750-722 BC

Theological reading

Hosea 10:12 pairs [[H6666 - tzedakah|tzedaqah]] ("sow... in righteousness") with [[H2617 - hesed|ḥesed]] ("reap according to kindness/loyalty") and frames the call as agricultural-covenantal: the tzedaqah the people sow is the relational-covenantal fidelity they are summoned to enact, and the ḥesed they reap is the corresponding covenant-loyalty God returns. The verse closes with the most theologically loaded phrase in the verse: "till he come and rain righteousness upon you", the Hebrew yoreh tzedeq uses the noun [[H6664 - tzedeq|tzedeq]] alongside the verbal tzedaqah-cluster of the opening clause, joining the abstract divine attribute and the concrete enacted righteousness in a single image of divine fertilizing rain. The verse stands in the Hosean tradition of the tzedaqah-ḥesed pair as covenant-vocabulary and anticipates the prophetic-restoration trajectory that runs through Joel, Amos, and especially Second-Isaiah. The agricultural metaphor ("break up your fallow ground") is one Paul echoes in 2 Corinthians 9:9-10, quoting Ps 112:9 tzedaqah and developing the tzedaqah-as-charitable-generosity register.

Key words

H6666 - tzedakah, tzedaqah (Strong's H6666). The opening "sow in righteousness".
H6664 - tzedeq, tzedeq (Strong's H6664). The closing "rain righteousness."
H2617 - hesed, ḥesed (Strong's H2617). The "reap according to kindness" covenant-loyalty pair.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.