Book of Hosea Chapter 7 Vs. 3

 INIQUITY UNCOVERED

They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. Hos. 7:3

They make the... The evil awakens no alarm, but rather sympathy and gladness, in the breasts of their kings and rulers, who are ready to follow suit in all deeds of violence.

with their lies... With false accusations brought in against the more innocent, or by false reports made of their words and actions, representing them as ridiculous or foolish, amusing them into infamy.

This was a corrupt society. The king was even pleased at the corruption. The king and the princes were just as involved as the people themselves.

The rulers were no different from their subjects. A godly ruler was to oppose all forms of wickedness within his kingdom (cf. Psm. 101:1-8), but these leaders delighted in it.

WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES

There follows now a very difficult passage. The text is corrupt, and we have no means of determining what precise events are intended. The drift of meaning, however, is evident. The disorder and licentiousness of the people are favored in high places; the throne itself is guilty.

With their evil they make a king glad, and princes with their falsehoods:

The rulers were no different from their subjects. A godly ruler was to oppose all forms of wickedness within his kingdom (cf. Psm. 101:1-8), but these leaders delighted in it.