Hosea 10:3

New King James Version

For now they say, "We have no king, Because we did not fear the LORD. And as for a king, what would he do for us?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
In fact, they are now saying,“We have no king!For we do not fear the Lord.What can a king do for us?”

Hebrew Names Version
Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don't fear the LORD; And the king, what can he do for us?"

King James Version
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord ; what then should a king do to us?

English Standard Version
For now they will say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the Lord ; and a king—what could he do for us?"

New American Standard Bible
Certainly now they will say, "We have no king, For we do not revere the LORD. As for the king, what can he do for us?"

New Century Version
Then they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't honor the Lord . As for the king, he couldn't do anything for us."

Amplified Bible
Surely now they will say [in despair], "We have no [true] king, For we do not revere the LORD; And as for the king, what can he do for us [to rescue us]?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
For now they shal say, We haue no King because we feared not the Lord: and what should a King doe to vs?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Surely now they will say, "We have no king, For we do not revere the LORD. As for the king, what can he do for us?"

Legacy Standard Bible
Surely now they will say, "We have no king,For we do not fear Yahweh.As for the king, what can he do for us?"

Berean Standard Bible
Surely now they will say, "We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?"

Contemporary English Version
"We don't have a king," you will say. "We don't fear the Lord . And what good are kings?"

Complete Jewish Bible
For now they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't fear Adonai — and what could a king do for us, anyway?"

Darby Translation
For now they will say, We have no king, for we feared not Jehovah; and a king, what can he do for us?

Easy-to-Read Version
Now the Israelites say, "We have no king. We don't honor the Lord . And his king cannot do anything to us."

George Lamsa Translation
For from now they shall say, We have no king because we feared not the LORD; what then can a king do for us?

Good News Translation
These people will soon be saying, "We have no king because we did not fear the Lord . But what could a king do for us anyway?"

Lexham English Bible
For now they will say, "We have no king; indeed, we did not fear Yahweh, and what can a king do for us?"

Literal Translation
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we did not fear Jehovah. What then should a king do for us?

American Standard Version
Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king, what can he do for us?

Bible in Basic English
Now, truly, they will say, We have no king, we have no fear of the Lord; and the king, what is he able to do for us?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Surely now shall they say: 'We have no king; for we feared not the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?'

King James Version (1611)
For now they shall say, We haue no King, because we feared not the Lord, What then should a King doe to vs?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For nowe shall they say, We haue no king, because we haue not feared the Lorde: and what shoulde then a king do to vs?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Because now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord:

English Revised Version
Surely now shall they say, We have no king: for we fear not the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?

World English Bible
Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don't fear Yahweh; And the king, what can he do for us?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For thanne thei schulen seie, A kyng is not to vs, for we dreden not the Lord. And what schal a kyng do to vs?

Update Bible Version
Surely now they shall say, We have no king; for we don't fear Yahweh; and the king, what can he do for us?

Webster's Bible Translation
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

New English Translation
Very soon they will say, "We have no king since we did not fear the Lord . But what can a king do for us anyway?"

New Living Translation
Then they will say, "We have no king because we didn't fear the Lord . But even if we had a king, what could he do for us anyway?"

New Life Bible
Then they will say, "We have no king because we do not fear the Lord. And what could a king do for us?"

New Revised Standard
For now they will say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the Lord , and a king—what could he do for us?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, now, will they say, We have no king, - for we revere not Yahweh, and what could, a king, do for us?

Douay-Rheims Bible
For now they shall say: We have no king: because we fear not the Lord: and what shall a king do to us?

Revised Standard Version
For now they will say: "We have no king, for we fear not the LORD, and a king, what could he do for us?"

Young's Literal Translation
For now they say: We have no king, Because we have not feared Jehovah, And the king -- what doth he for us?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then shal they saye: we haue no kinge, for why? we haue not feared the LORDE. And what shal then the kinge do to vs?

THE MESSAGE
They go around saying, "Who needs a king? We couldn't care less about God , so why bother with a king? What difference would he make?" They talk big, lie through their teeth, make deals. But their high-sounding words turn out to be empty words, litter in the gutters.

Contextual Overview

¹ Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. ² Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars. ³ For now they say, "We have no king, Because we did not fear the LORD. And as for a king, what would he do for us?" ⁴ They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. ⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria fearBecause of the calf [fn] of Beth Aven.For its people mourn for it,And its priests shriek for it--Because its glory has departed from it. ⁶ The idol also shall be carried to Assyria As a present for King Jareb. Ephraim shall receive shame, And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. ⁷ As for Samaria, her king is cut off Like a twig on the water. ⁸ Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, "Cover us!" And to the hills, "Fall on us!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

We have: Hosea 10:7, Hosea 10:15, Hosea 3:4, Hosea 11:5, Hosea 13:11, Genesis 49:10, Micah 4:9, John 19:15

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 12:25 - ye and 2 Kings 15:30 - and smote Ezekiel 19:14 - she hath Hosea 13:10 - where

Cross-References

Jeremiah 51:27
Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.

Ezekiel 27:14
Those from the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses, steeds, and mules.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For now they shall say, we have no king,.... This they would say, either when they had one; but by their conduct and behaviour said they had none; because they had no regard unto him, no affection for him, and reverence of him; but everyone did what was right in his own eyes: or during the interregnum, between the murder of Pekah, which was in the twentieth year of Jotham, and the settlement of Hoshea, which was in the twelfth of Ahaz; see 2 Kings 15:30; or when the land of Israel was invaded, and their king was shut up in prison, and Samaria besieged, so that it was as if they had no king; they had none to protect and defend them, to sally out at the head of them against the enemy, and fight their battles for them; or rather when the city was taken, the altars broke down, their images spoiled, and they and their king carried captive:

because we feared not the Lord: did not serve and worship him, but idols; and this sin, casting off the fear of the Lord, was the source and cause of all their troubles and sorrows; of the invasion of their land; of the besieging and taking their city, and having no king to rule over them, and protect them:

what then should a king do to us? if they had one, he could be of no service to them; for since they had offended God, the King of kings, and made him their enemy, what could an earthly king, a weak mortal man, do for them, or against him? it was now all over with them, and they could have no expectation of help and deliverance.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For now they shall say, we have no king - These are the words of despair, not of repentance; of people terrified by the consciousness of guilt, but not coming forth out of its darkness; describing their condition, not confessing the iniquity which brought it on them. In sin, all Israel had asked for a king, when the Lord was their king; in sin, Ephraim had made Jeroboam king; in sin, their subsequent kings were made, without the counsel and advice of God; and now as the close of all, they reflect how fruitless it all was. They had a king, and yet, as it were, they had no king, since, God being angry with them, he had no strength to deliver them. And now, without love, the memory of their evil deeds crushes them beyond hope of remedy. They groan for their losses, their sufferings, their fears, but do not repent. Such is the remorse of the damned. All which they had is lost; and what availed it now, since, when they had it, they feared not God?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Hosea 10:3. We have no king — We have rejected the King of kings; and had we any king, he would be of no service to us in this state, as he would be a captive like ourselves; nor could we have the approbation of God, as we now justly lie under his displeasure.