Hosea 5:12
New International Version
I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.

New Living Translation
I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

English Standard Version
But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

Berean Standard Bible
So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

King James Bible
Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

New King James Version
Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

NASB 1995
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

NASB 1977
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

Amplified Bible
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].

Christian Standard Bible
So I am like rot to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So I am like rot to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah.

American Standard Version
Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

Contemporary English Version
Now I, the LORD, will fill Israel with maggots and make Judah rot.

English Revised Version
Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I will destroy Ephraim as a moth destroys clothing. I will destroy the nation of Judah as rot destroys wood.

Good News Translation
I will bring destruction on Israel and ruin on the people of Judah.

International Standard Version
Therefore I will consume Ephraim like a moth, and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.

Majority Standard Bible
So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

NET Bible
I will be like a moth to Ephraim, like wood rot to the house of Judah.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore will I be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

World English Bible
Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And I [am] as a moth to Ephraim, "" And as a rotten thing to the house of Judah.

Young's Literal Translation
And I am as a moth to Ephraim, And as a rotten thing to the house of Judah.

Smith's Literal Translation
And I as a moth to Ephraim, and as rottenness to the house of Judah.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will be like a moth to Ephraim: and like rottenness to the house of Juda.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

New American Bible
I am like a moth for Ephraim, like rot for the house of Judah.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore I am like maggots to Ephraim, and like rottenness to the house of Judah.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore I will be as a tempest to Ephraim, and to the house of Judah as a lion.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And I shall be like a tempest to Aphreim and like a lion to the house of Yehuda
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, And to the house of Judah as rottenness.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore I will be as consternation to Ephraim, and as a goad to the house of Juda.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Judgment on Israel and Judah
11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols. 12So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah. 13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.…

Cross References
Isaiah 51:8
For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”

Isaiah 3:24
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.

Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 9:14-15
So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day. / The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.

Isaiah 19:14-15
The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit. / There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.

Jeremiah 14:2
“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 30:12-15
For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous. / There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sores, no recovery for you. / All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer seek you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins. ...

Ezekiel 7:10-11
Behold, the day is here! It has come! Doom has gone out, the rod has budded, arrogance has bloomed. / Their violence has grown into a rod to punish their wickedness. None of them will remain: none of their multitude, none of their wealth, and nothing of value.

Ezekiel 30:12
I will make the streams dry up and sell the land to the wicked. By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have spoken.

Micah 1:9
For her wound is incurable; it has reached even Judah; it has approached the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem itself.

Nahum 3:15-16
There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust! / You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.

Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

Matthew 23:27-28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. / In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Luke 12:1-3
In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. / There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. / What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore will I be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

as a.

Job 13:28
And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

Isaiah 50:9
Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

Isaiah 51:8
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

as.

Proverbs 12:4
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

rottenness.

Jonah 4:7
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

Mark 9:44-48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched…

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Children Destruction Dry Ephraim E'phraim House Insect Judah Moth Rot Rotten Rottenness Wasting
Hosea 5
1. The judgments of God are denounced against the priests, people, and princes,
9. both of Israel and Judah, for their manifold sins.
15. An intimation is given of mercy on their repentance.














So I am like a moth to Ephraim
The imagery of a "moth" in this context is significant. In Hebrew, the word for moth is "עש" (ash), which often symbolizes destruction and decay. Moths, though small and seemingly insignificant, can cause considerable damage over time, especially to fabrics. This metaphor suggests a slow, insidious process of deterioration. God is expressing His judgment on Ephraim, representing the northern kingdom of Israel, indicating that their spiritual and moral decay will be gradual but inevitable. Historically, Ephraim was the largest tribe in Israel and often used to represent the entire northern kingdom. The moth symbolizes the divine judgment that comes as a natural consequence of their persistent idolatry and disobedience. This serves as a warning that God's judgment, though it may seem subtle at first, is persistent and ultimately devastating if repentance is not sought.

and like decay to the house of Judah
The term "decay" is translated from the Hebrew word "רקב" (raqab), which refers to rot or corrosion. This imagery complements the moth metaphor, emphasizing a process of internal breakdown. While the moth represents an external agent of destruction, decay suggests an internal corruption that weakens the structure from within. The "house of Judah" refers to the southern kingdom, which, like Ephraim, is not immune to the consequences of turning away from God. Historically, Judah had moments of faithfulness but also fell into periods of idolatry and moral decline. The use of "decay" highlights the spiritual and moral corruption that eats away at the foundation of a society. In a conservative Christian perspective, this serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of maintaining spiritual integrity and faithfulness to God. It underscores the need for vigilance against the subtle and pervasive influences that can lead to spiritual decay, urging believers to seek renewal and restoration through repentance and obedience to God's Word.

(12) Rottenness.--The Authorised version is right in this rendering (the disease caries) rather than worm (margin). Both images express concealed causes of irreparable destruction which come suddenly to view when it is too late.

Verse 12. - Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. This verse is well explained by Calvin as follows: "The meaning of the prophet is by no means obscure, and that is, that the Lord would by a slow corrosion consume both the people; and that, though he would not by one onset destroy them, yet they would pine away until they became wholly rotten." The two agents of destruction here named - the moth which eats away clothes, and the woodworm which gnaws away wood - figuratively represent slow but sure destruction. They are found together in Job 13:28. Kimchi explains the sense in like manner: "Like the moth which eats away garments, and like the woodworm which consumes bones and wood, so shall I consume you." The pronoun at the beginning of the verse is emphatic: "I your God, who would have been your protector and preserver, whom you have sinfully forsaken, and whose commandments you have arbitrarily set aside - even I am to you as the source of rottenness, and of slow but sure ruin."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So I am
וַאֲנִ֥י (wa·’ă·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

like a moth
כָעָ֖שׁ (ḵā·‘āš)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6211: A moth

to Ephraim,
לְאֶפְרָ֑יִם (lə·’ep̄·rā·yim)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 669: Ephraim -- a son of Joseph, also his descendants and their territory

and like decay
וְכָרָקָ֖ב (wə·ḵā·rā·qāḇ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7538: Rottenness, decay

to the house
לְבֵ֥ית (lə·ḇêṯ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of Judah.
יְהוּדָֽה׃ (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites


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OT Prophets: Hosea 5:12 Therefore I am to Ephraim like (Ho Hs Hos.)
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