Hosea 10:1-8

International Children’s Bible

Israel Will Pay for Sin

10 Israel is like a vine
    that produced plenty of fruit.
As the people became richer,
    they built more altars for idols.
As their land became better,
    they put up better stone pillars to honor false gods.
²Their heart was false.
    Now they must pay for their guilt.
The Lord will break down their altars.
    He will destroy their holy stone pillars.

³Then the Israelites will say, “We have no king,
    because we didn’t honor the Lord.
But even if we had one,
    he couldn’t do anything for us.”
⁴They make many false promises.
    They make agreements they don’t keep.
So people sue each other in court.
    They are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.
⁵The people from Israel are worried about
    the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven.
The people and the priests will cry
    because their glorious idol is gone.
⁶It will be carried off as a payment that was demanded
    to the great king of Assyria.
Israel will be disgraced.
    The people will be ashamed of trusting that idol.
⁷The king of Israel will be carried off
    like a chip of wood floating on the water.
⁸The places of worship at Beth Aven will be destroyed.
    They are where Israel sins.
Thorns and weeds will grow up
    and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
    And they will say to the hills, “Fall on us!”