Hosea 10:11 (YLT)

Passage

And Ephraim <FI>is<Fi> a trained heifer--loving to thresh, And I--I have passed over on the goodness of its neck, I cause <FI>one<Fi> to ride Ephraim, Plough doth Judah, harrow for him doth Jacob.

Nearby Context

Hosea 10:9 From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel, There they have stood, Not overtake them in Gibeah doth battle, Because of sons of perverseness.

Hosea 10:10 When I desire, then I do bind them, And gathered against them have peoples, When they bind themselves to their two iniquities.

Hosea 10:11 And Ephraim <FI>is<Fi> a trained heifer--loving to thresh, And I--I have passed over on the goodness of its neck, I cause <FI>one<Fi> to ride Ephraim, Plough doth Judah, harrow for him doth Jacob.

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to loving-kindness, Till for yourselves tillage of knowledge, To seek Jehovah, Till he come and shew righteousness to you.

Hosea 10:13 Ye have ploughed wickedness, Perversity ye have reaped, Ye have eaten the fruit of lying, For thou hast trusted in thy way, In the abundance of thy might.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ephraim", "trained", "heifer--loving", "thresh", "i--i", "passed", "over", and "goodness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ephraim" and "trained", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "When I desire then I do bind..." into verse 12's "Sow for yourselves in righteousness Reap according...", so "ephraim" and "trained" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ephraim" and "trained" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.