⁴ They make many promises,
    take false oaths^(A)
    and make agreements;^(B)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds^(C) in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol^(D) of Beth Aven.^[a](E)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,^(F)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.^(G)
6 It will be carried to Assyria^(H)
    as tribute^(I) for the great king.^(J)
Ephraim will be disgraced;^(K)
    Israel will be ashamed^(L) of its foreign alliances.