Bible Strands
Hosea 13:12
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses the northern kingdom of Ephraim, pronouncing the accumulated consequence of their rebellion immediately after describing the removal of their king in divine wrath.
The words — צָרוּר (tza.Rur) means “bound up,” and צְפוּנָה (tze.fu.Nah) means “stored up,” describing how their iniquity and sin are collected for future reckoning.
The thread — This imagery of accumulated guilt appears in Deuteronomy 32:34, where God seals judgments in vaults, and Job 14:17, where transgression is sealed in a bag, while Romans 2:5 applies the same principle to stored wrath.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that unrepented sin does not disappear but accumulates divine judgment, requiring immediate accountability before the stored consequence is released.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:34 “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?
- Job 14:17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.
- Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Job 21:19 It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.