HOS 4:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Ἀρὰ, καὶ ψεῦδος, καὶ φόνος καὶ κλοπὴ, καὶ μοιχεία κέχυται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ αἵματα ἐφʼ αἵμασι μίσγουσι.
(Ara, kai pseudos, kai fonos kai klopaʸ, kai moiⱪeia keⱪutai epi taʸs gaʸs, kai haimata efʼ haimasi misgousi. )

BrTr Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery abound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

ULT There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery.
⇔ They have broken all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

UST You curse and lie, you kill and steal, and you commit adultery.
⇔ You have broken every law,
⇔ and you commit one murder after another.

OEB but cursing, lying, and murder,
⇔ stealing, committing adultery, and deeds of violence,
⇔ and acts of bloodshed quickly follow each other.

WEBBE There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
⇔ they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.
⇔ They resort to violence and bloodshed.

LSV Swearing, and lying, and murdering,
And stealing, and committing adultery—have increased,
And blood has touched against blood.

FBV Instead there is only cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. They commit violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

T4T Everywhere in this land they curse others, they murder others, they steal, and they commit adultery.
⇔ They act violently toward others
⇔ and commit one murder after another.

LEB   • Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing,
   • and adultery break out,[fn]
  • and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

4:? The LXX adds “and adultery breaks out in the land”

BBE There is cursing and broken faith, violent death and attacks on property, men are untrue in married life, houses are broken into, and there is blood touching blood.

Moff nothing but perjury, lying, and murder,
⇔ stealing, debauchery, burglary–
⇔ bloodshed upon bloodshed!

JPS Swearing and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery! they break all bounds, and blood toucheth blood.

ASV There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

DRA Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.

YLT Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery — have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.

Drby Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, — they break out; and blood toucheth blood.

RV There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
(There is naught/nothing but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth/touches blood. )

SLT Swearing and lying, and breaking in pieces, and stealing and committing adultery, they broke forth; and bloods touched upon bloods.

Wbstr By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

KJB-1769 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.[fn]
(By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth/touches blood. )

4.2 blood: Heb. bloods

KJB-1611 [fn]By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adulterie, they breake out, and blood toucheth blood.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

4:2 Hebr. bloods.

Bshps But swearing, lying, manslaughter, theft, and adulterie, hath gotten the ouer hande, and one bloodgiltinesse foloweth another.
(But swearing, lying, manslaughter, theft, and adultery, hath/has gotten the over hand, and one bloodgiltiness followeth/follows another.)

Gnva By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and whoring they breake out, and blood toucheth blood.
(By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and whoring they break out, and blood toucheth/touches blood. )

Cvdl but swearinge, lyege, maslaughter, theft and aduoutry haue gotten the ouerhande, & one bloudgiltynesse foloweth another.
(but swearing, lying, manslaughter, theft and adultery have gotten the overhande, and one bloodgiltyness followeth/follows another.)

Wycl Curs, and leesyng, and manquelling, and thefte, and auowtrie flowiden, and blood touchide blood.
(Curs, and falsehood, and manquelling, and theft, and auowtrie flowed, and blood touched blood.)

Luth sondern Gotteslästern, Lügen, Morden, Stehlen und Ehebrechen hat überhandgenommen, und kommt eine Blutschuld nach der andern.
(rather God’slästern, lie(s), Morden, Stehlen and Ehebrechen has overpowergenommen, and comes a/one bloodschuld after the/of_the change/modify.)

ClVg Maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, et sanguis sanguinem tetigit.
(Maledictum, and a_lie, and murder, and theft, and adultery they_flooded, and blood blood touched. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–3: The LORD brought a charge against the people of Israel

The words “Hear the word of the LORD” in 4:1 indicate the beginning of a new prophecy. In 4:1–3, the LORD brought an accusation or charge against the people of Israel. The charge consisted of three parts. First, the LORD stated their crimes (4:1). Second, he presented the evidence of their crimes (4:2). Third, he announced the resulting judgment (4:3). The charge serves as a general introduction to the messages that follow in the remainder of chapter 4.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord’s Legal Case Against Israel (GW)

The Lord Accuses Israel (ESV)

4:2a–b

Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery: These are five specific examples of the sins that the people had committed. These five sins are forbidden in the Ten Commandments. If you already translated the Ten Commandments in a different book of the Bible, you should translate these five sins in a similar way here.

The statement in 4:2a–b indicates that people frequently committed sins like these. It does not indicate that people committed only these sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this statement:

You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. (NLT96)

There is cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. (GW)

Cursing, dishonesty, murder, robbery, unfaithfulness—these happen all the time. (CEV)

4:2a

Cursing and lying, murder

People curse, lie, kill,
All you^(plur) do is curse other people, deceive them, and commit murder.

Cursing: The commandment against cursing is in Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11. Here Cursing probably means to put curses on people using God’s name as part of the curse. It does not mean to use profane or vulgar words, a common meaning of “cursing” in English.

Some English versions use expressions that refer to making a false promise.For example, the GNT has: “make promises and break them.” The NJB has: “perjury.” But making a false promise is also a type of lying. Since lying is the next sin listed in this verse, you should translate “cursing” in a way that clearly shows the difference between it and lying.According to Macintosh (page 129), the word “cursing” is one in a series of five distinct terms. It should not be understood in combination with “lying.” It does not mean that “oaths are imposed and broken.” In this context it means “to invoke a curse upon someone from God. When a person invokes such curses improperly, he makes wrongful use of God’s name. (Exodus 20.7).

lying: The commandment against lying is in Exodus 20:16 and Deuteronomy 5:20. Here lying means to be dishonest in ways that are harmful to other people. This meaning includes deceiving people in order to cheat them and giving false testimony in a legal case.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

dishonesty (CEV)

deception (NASB)

murder: The commandment against murder is in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17. In this context, murder refers to killing a person illegally. It does not refer to executing a criminal or killing an enemy soldier in battle. The word can refer to killing a person either intentionally or accidentally.

4:2b

and stealing, and adultery

steal, and commit adultery.
You^(plur) steal and have sexual relations with people who are not your spouse.

stealing: The commandment against stealing is in Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:19.

adultery: The commandment against adultery is in Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18.

4:2c

are rampant;

There is no limit to their many sins.
You^(plur) commit more and more crimes everywhere.

are rampant: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as are rampant is literally “they have broken out.” It refers figuratively here to breaking through “moral barriers and restraints.”NET footnote (a) on 4:1.

There are two main ways to interpret the meaning of the verb and what it refers to:

The verb means that the five sins listed in 4:2a–b have greatly increased. It implies that people commit these sins everywhere in the land. For example:
Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out (NRSV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GNT, GW, NAB, NCV, NIV, NJPS, NRSV)The ESV and NIV have been listed here because the punctuation, with a semicolon after the first five sins, points to the first interpretation. In normal English usage, the pronoun “they” would refer to the preceding sins. There is no other referent. The GNT, NJPS, and CEV have been listed here, because they refer generically to the five sins or crimes just mentioned, some of which are not violent.
The verb means that violence has greatly increased. It implies that people commit violent crimes everywhere in the land.HALOT (#7754, sense #6a, c). Of the versions listed here in support of the second interpretation, only the NLT makes explicit the idea of violence increasing or spreading everywhere. The others merely mention violence without further detail. For example, the REB has: “there is violence.” For example:
You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— (NLT) (NASB, NET, NJB, NLT, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions.Some commentaries (e.g., Davies and Hubbard) simply give alternatives. See Macintosh (pages 129–130) for arguments in favor of the first interpretation based on the five infinitive absolutes (also mentioned by Wood). His translation speaks of the five sins that “inundate [the land].”

Here is another way to translate 4:2a–c:

Cursing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery are everywhere. (NCV)

In some languages, it may be more natural to use a general term for the five sins. For example:

crimes increase (GNT)

People break my laws (GW)

4:2d

one act of bloodshed follows another.

One murder follows another. (NCV)
You^(plur) never stop wounding and killing other people.

one act of bloodshed follows another: This clause is a continuation of interpretation (1) in 4:2c. It focuses on repeated crimes that involve bloodshed in addition to the five sins that “are rampant” (4:2a–c). It means that murders and similar bloody crimes occur one after another.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and there is one murder after another (GNT)

One murder follows another. (NCV)