Hosea 10
Christian Standard Bible
The Vine and the Calf
10 Israel is a lush[a] vine;(A)
it yields fruit for itself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars.(B)
The better his land produced,
the better they made the sacred pillars.(C)
2 Their hearts are devious;[b](D)
now they must bear their guilt.(E)
The Lord will break down their altars(F)
and demolish their sacred pillars.
3 In fact, they are now saying,
“We have no king!
For we do not fear the Lord.(G)
What can a king do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
taking false oaths while making covenants.(H)
So lawsuits break out
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.(I)
5 The residents of Samaria(J) will have anxiety
over the calf(K) of Beth-aven.(L)
Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;
the people will mourn over it,
over its glory.(M)
It will certainly go into exile.
6 The calf itself will be taken to Assyria(N)
as an offering to the great king.[c](O)
Ephraim will experience shame;(P)
Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.(Q)
7 Samaria’s king will disappear[d](R)
like foam[e] on the surface of the water.
8 The high places(S) of Aven, the sin of Israel,(T)
will be destroyed;
thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.(U)
They will say to the mountains,(V) “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!” (W)
Israel’s Defeat because of Sin
9 Israel, you have sinned
since the days of Gibeah;(X)
they have taken their stand there.
Will not war against the unjust
overtake them in Gibeah?
10 I will discipline(Y) them at my discretion;(Z)
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bondage[f]
for their double iniquity.(AA)
11 Ephraim is a well-trained calf(AB)
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on[g] her fine neck.(AC)
I will harness Ephraim;(AD)
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves(AE)
and reap faithful love;
break up your unplowed ground.(AF)
It is time to seek the Lord(AG)
until he comes(AH) and sends righteousness
on you like the rain.(AI)
13 You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;(AJ)
you have eaten the fruit of lies.(AK)
Because you have trusted in your own way[h]
and in your large number of soldiers,(AL)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
and all your fortifications will be demolished(AM)
in a day of war,
like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.
Mothers will be dashed to pieces
along with their children.(AN)
15 So it will be done to you, Bethel,(AO)
because of your extreme evil.
At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.
Hosea 10
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Judgment against Israel
10 How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
2 The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The Lord will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
because we didn’t fear the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us anyway?”
4 They spout empty words
and make covenants they don’t intend to keep.
So injustice springs up among them
like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.
5 The people of Samaria tremble in fear
for their calf idol at Beth-aven,[a]
and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
its glory will be stripped away.[b]
6 This idol will be carted away to Assyria,
a gift to the great king there.
Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed,
because its people have trusted in this idol.
7 Samaria and its king will be cut off;
they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.
8 And the pagan shrines of Aven,[c] the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah,
there has been only sin and more sin!
You have made no progress whatsoever.
Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?
10 Now whenever it fits my plan,
I will attack you, too.
I will call out the armies of the nations
to punish you for your multiplied sins.
11 “Israel[d] is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—
an easy job she loves.
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck.
I will force Judah to pull the plow
and Israel[e] to break up the hard ground.
12 I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’
13 “But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
14 Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
were dashed to death there.
15 You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Footnotes
- 10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
- 10:5b Or will be taken away into exile.
- 10:8 Aven is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there.
- 10:11a Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
- 10:11b Hebrew Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
