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KING JAMES BIBLE · PCE

Hosea 2:4–6

TEXT EDITION
Pure Cambridge Edition selected
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
¶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
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SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

Cross References

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From verse 4

  1. Ezekiel 8:18Rank 1 from verse 4
    Open

    18Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

  2. Ezekiel 9:10Rank 2 from verse 4
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    10And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

  3. Hosea 1:2Rank 3 from verse 4
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    2The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

  4. Hosea 1:6Rank 4 from verse 4
    Open

    6¶ And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

  5. James 2:13Rank 5 from verse 4
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    13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

  6. Jeremiah 13:14Rank 6 from verse 4
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    14And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

  7. Jeremiah 16:5Rank 7 from verse 4
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    5For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies.

  8. 2 Kings 9:22Rank 8 from verse 4
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    22And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

  9. Isaiah 27:11Rank 9 from verse 4
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    11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

  10. Isaiah 57:3Rank 10 from verse 4
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    3¶ But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

  11. John 8:41Rank 11 from verse 4
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    41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

  12. Romans 11:22Rank 12 from verse 4
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    22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

  13. Romans 9:18Rank 13 from verse 4
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    18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

  14. Zechariah 1:12Rank 14 from verse 4
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    12¶ Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

From verse 5

  1. Jeremiah 44:17–18Rank 1 from verse 5
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    17But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

    18But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

  2. Hosea 2:8Rank 2 from verse 5
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    8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

  3. Hosea 3:1Rank 3 from verse 5
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    1THEN said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

  4. Isaiah 1:21Rank 4 from verse 5
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    21¶ How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

  5. Hosea 2:12–13Rank 5 from verse 5
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    12And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

    13And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.

  6. Jeremiah 3:1–9Rank 6 from verse 5
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    1THEY say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.

    2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

    3Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

    4Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

    5Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

    6¶ The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

    7And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

    8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

    9And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

  7. Daniel 9:5–8Rank 7 from verse 5
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    5We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

    6Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

    7O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

    8O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

  8. Ezekiel 16:15–16Rank 8 from verse 5
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    15¶ But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

    16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

  9. Ezekiel 16:28–34Rank 9 from verse 5
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    28Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

    29Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

    30How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;

    31In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

    32But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

    33They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

    34And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

  10. Ezekiel 23:16–17Rank 10 from verse 5
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    16And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

    17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

  11. Ezekiel 23:40–44Rank 11 from verse 5
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    40And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

    41And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.

    42And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

    43Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?

    44Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.

  12. Ezekiel 23:5–11Rank 12 from verse 5
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    5And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

    6Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

    7Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

    8Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.

    9Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

    10These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

    11And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.

  13. Ezra 9:6–7Rank 13 from verse 5
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    6And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

    7Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

  14. Hosea 2:2Rank 14 from verse 5
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    2Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

  15. Hosea 4:12–15Rank 15 from verse 5
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    12¶ My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

    13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

    14I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

    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, The Lord liveth.

  16. Hosea 4:5Rank 16 from verse 5
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    5Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.

  17. Hosea 8:9Rank 17 from verse 5
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    9For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

  18. Hosea 9:10Rank 18 from verse 5
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    10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

  19. Isaiah 50:1Rank 19 from verse 5
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    1THUS saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

  20. Isaiah 57:7–8Rank 20 from verse 5
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    7Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

    8Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

  21. Jeremiah 11:13Rank 21 from verse 5
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    13For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

  22. Jeremiah 2:20Rank 22 from verse 5
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    20¶ For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

  23. Jeremiah 2:25–27Rank 23 from verse 5
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    25Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

    26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

    27Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

  24. Judges 16:23Rank 24 from verse 5
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    23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

  25. Revelation 17:1–5Rank 25 from verse 5
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    1AND there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

    2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

    3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

    4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

    5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

  26. Revelation 2:20–23Rank 26 from verse 5
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    20Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

    21And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

    22Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

    23And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

From verse 6

  1. Job 19:8Rank 1 from verse 6
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    8He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

  2. Lamentations 3:7–9Rank 2 from verse 6
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    7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

    8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

    9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

  3. Job 3:23Rank 3 from verse 6
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    23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

  4. Luke 19:43Rank 4 from verse 6
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    43For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

  5. Luke 15:14–16Rank 5 from verse 6
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    14And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

    15And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

    16And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

WORDS IN THIS PASSAGE

Definitions

Open a word for its full definition and concordance.

DEFINED WORDS

Hosea 2:4

COMBINED MEANING

mercy

↗

Compassion or pity shown to the distressed or guilty; kindness that withholds deserved harm.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

upon

↗

1. Marks the person, place, thing, or basis to which something is related: on or onto; above or over; toward or against as the target of action, speech, thought, attention, or force; resting on, assigned to, or affecting as a state, gift, burden, duty, guilt, or judgment; supported by or based on; or one placed, added, or repeated on or after another. 2. With a stated time or occasion, or a preceding event, at that time or point, or at or after that event: on, at, when, then, or following it.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

children

↗

Sons or daughters; descendants; or persons likened to children by age, relation, or character.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

for

↗

1. In behalf of or in the place of. 2. With respect to, concerning, or toward. 3. Because of or on account of. 4. During or throughout. 5. In order to obtain or reach. 6. As a conjunction, because or seeing that.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Hosea 2:5

COMBINED MEANING

for

↗

1. In behalf of or in the place of. 2. With respect to, concerning, or toward. 3. Because of or on account of. 4. During or throughout. 5. In order to obtain or reach. 6. As a conjunction, because or seeing that.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

mother

↗

Sense 1: A female parent. Sense 2: Figuratively, a source, chief city, or maternal relation.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

played

↗

Past-tense, participial, or adjectival form of play. Sense 1: To engage in recreation, sport, contest, lively movement, or musical performance. Sense 2: To act or conduct oneself in a stated role or manner.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

harlot

↗

Sense 1: A woman who practises prostitution or sexual unfaithfulness. Sense 2: Figuratively, a person, city, or nation portrayed as unfaithful.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

conceived

↗

Sense 1: Past-tense, participial, or adjectival form of conceive, meaning to become pregnant. Sense 2: To form an idea, plan, purpose, or understanding in the mind.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

after

↗

1. Later than or following in time or order. 2. Behind. 3. In pursuit of.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

lovers

↗

Sense 1: Persons who love, or close friends joined by affection. Sense 2: Persons joined in improper or unlawful affection.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

water

↗

Sense 1: The common liquid necessary for life. Sense 2: As a verb, to supply with water, irrigate, or cause to drink.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

wool

↗

The soft, fleece-like hair of sheep, used as material and as a comparison for whiteness, softness, or something moth-eaten.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

flax

↗

The fibre-bearing plant from which linen thread and cloth are made.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

oil

↗

1. An oily substance, especially olive oil. 2. To anoint or supply with oil.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Hosea 2:6

COMBINED MEANING

behold

↗

1. Used as an attention word or command directing someone to look at or take notice of the person, thing, statement, or event presented: look; see; take notice. 2. As a verb, to look upon, see, observe, or witness.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

hedge

↗

Sense 1: A fence, thicket, wall, or protective enclosure. Sense 2: Figuratively, a barrier or defense. As a verb, to enclose or obstruct.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

thorns

↗

Sense 1: Sharp spines or prickles. Sense 2: Thorn-bearing plants and figures of things that prick, obstruct, or grieve.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

make

↗

To form, create, produce, cause, appoint, perform, or render into a stated condition.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Skeat 1893

COMBINED MEANING

wall

↗

Sense 1: A structure raised to enclose, divide, or defend a place. Sense 2: Figuratively, a defense or protection.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

shall

↗

An auxiliary verb expressing future action, intention, promise, command, requirement, or determination.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

find

↗

To discover, meet with, obtain, perceive, or learn by search or experience.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

paths

↗

1. Figuratively, ways or courses of conduct, action, or direction. 2. Tracks, roads, routes, or ways of passage or travel.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

READ THE PASSAGE

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Nearby verses · passage boundary unavailable · Hosea 2:3–7

The selected passage is highlighted. Context is a study aid.

2:3Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

2:4And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

Selected passage

2:5For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Selected passage

2:6¶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

Selected passage

2:7And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

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