Passage

Hosea 4.17

Book: Hosea · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth. 16. For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place."

"17. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone."

"18. Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love shame. 19. The wind hath wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices." (Hosea 4:15-19, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"15. “Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’ 16. For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow."

"17. Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!"

"18. Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way. 19. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices." (Hosea 4:15-19, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth. 16. For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place."

"17. Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone."

"18. Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. ^{sour: Heb. gone} ^{rulers: Heb. shields} 19. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices." (Hosea 4:15-19, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"15. Though a harlot thou [art], O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth. 16. For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place."

"17. Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone."

"18. Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly. 19. Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!" (Hosea 4:15-19, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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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.