Bible Strands
Hosea 7:3
They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Hosea addresses Israel during a period of political corruption, describing how the nation’s leadership actively encourages sin while God observes their deeds.
The words — יְשַׂמְּחוּ (ye.sa.me.chu) translates literally as "they make glad" or "delight," paired with בְּרָעָתָם (be.ra'a.tam) "by their evil," indicating that wickedness is treated as entertainment by the ruling class.
The thread — This dynamic of elite corruption runs through Micah 7:3, where princes and judges demand bribes; Romans 1:32, which records that people know God’s righteous decree yet continue in such practices; and Jeremiah 28:1, which notes political maneuvering under King Zedekiah.
Why it lands — The text states that those in power normalize and celebrate sin, and it demands that readers recognize how leadership corruption sustains national decay while affirming that God’s memory encompasses all hidden deeds.
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
They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
Cross-references
- Romans 1:32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Micah 7:3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Jeremiah 28:1 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people:
- 1 Kings 22:6 So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
- 1 Kings 22:13 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.”
- Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- Jeremiah 9:2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
- Jeremiah 37:19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’?
- Hosea 4:2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Hosea 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.