Hosea 10

1  a Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
b the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
 2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The  Lord ▼
▼ Hebrew He
 will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
 3  For now they will say:
d “We have no king,
for we do not fear the  Lord;
and a king—what could he do for us?”
 4 They utter e mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so f judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
g in the furrows of the field.
 5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for h the calf ▼
▼ Or calves
 of j Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced over it and k over its glory—
for it has departed ▼
▼ Or  has gone into exile
 from them.
 6  m The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to n the great king. ▼
▼ Or  to King Jareb

Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed p of his idol. ▼
▼ Or counsel

 7  r Samaria’s king shall perish
like a twig on the face of the waters.
 8 The high places of s Aven t the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
u Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and v they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
 9  From w the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjust ▼
▼ Hebrew  the children of injustice
 overtake them in Gibeah?
 10  y When I please z I will discipline them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for aa their double iniquity.
 11  Ephraim was a trained calf
that ab loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ac Ephraim to the yoke;
ad Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
 12  ae Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
af break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the  Lord,
that he may come and ag rain righteousness upon you.
 13  ah You have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,
 14 therefore ai the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as aj Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
ak mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
 15 Thus it shall be done to you, O al Bethel,
because of your great evil.
At dawn am the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
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