Hosea 10
New American Standard Bible
Retribution for Israel’s Sin
10 Israel is a luxuriant (A)vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he (B)made;
The [a]richer his land,
The better [b]he made the (C)memorial stones.
2 Their heart is [c](D)deceitful;
Now they must suffer for their (E)guilt.
[d]The Lord will (F)break down their altars
And destroy their memorial stones.
3 Certainly now they will say, “We have (G)no king,
For we do not revere the Lord.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
[e]With (H)worthless oaths they make covenants;
And (I)judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear
For the [f](J)calf of (K)Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its (L)idolatrous priests [g]will cry out over it,
Over its (M)glory, since it has left it.
6 The thing itself will be brought to (N)Assyria
As a gift of tribute to [h](O)King Jareb;
Ephraim will [i]be (P)seized with shame,
And Israel will be ashamed of its (Q)own plan.
7 Samaria will be (R)destroyed with her king,
Like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 Also the (S)high places of Aven, the (T)sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
(U)Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars;
Then they will (V)say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel;
There they stand!
Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?
10 When it is My (W)desire, I will [j](X)discipline them;
And (Y)the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.
11 Ephraim is a trained (Z)heifer that loves to thresh,
[k]And I (AA)passed over her lovely neck;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will [l]harrow for himself.
12 (AB)Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;
Harvest in accordance with [m]kindness.
(AC)Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to (AD)seek the Lord
Until He (AE)comes and (AF)rains righteousness on you.
13 You have (AG)plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of (AH)lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your (AI)many warriors,
14 An uproar will arise among your people,
And all your (AJ)fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When (AK)mothers were [n]slaughtered with their children.
15 So it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Footnotes
- Hosea 10:1 Lit better
- Hosea 10:1 Lit they
- Hosea 10:2 Lit slippery; or divided
- Hosea 10:2 Lit He
- Hosea 10:4 Or Swearing falsely in making a covenant
- Hosea 10:5 As in some ancient versions; MT calves
- Hosea 10:5 Or who used to rejoice over
- Hosea 10:6 Another reading is the great king; or the contentious king
- Hosea 10:6 Lit receive shame
- Hosea 10:10 Or instruct
- Hosea 10:11 Or But I put a yoke on her lovely
- Hosea 10:11 I.e., pull a harrow, a farming device
- Hosea 10:12 Or loyalty
- Hosea 10:14 Lit shattered
Hosea 10
International Standard Version
The Coming Destruction
10 “Israel, the overgrown[a] vine, bears fruit like itself;
the more fruitful they become,
the more altars they build.
The better the land,
the more ornate the stone idols.[b]
2 Their hearts are divided;
from now on they are to be found guilty.
God[c] will tear down their altars,
he will destroy their stone idols.[d]
3 From now on they will say,
‘We have no king,
because we did not fear the Lord—
and what would a king do for us?’
4 Their word is falsely given
as they make their agreements;[e]
so judgment springs up
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.[f]
5 “The residents of Samaria will be terrified
because of the cows[g] of Beth-aven.
Its people will mourn over Beth-aven,[h]
along with the priests who will mourn its glory,
because that glory has departed.[i]
6 Indeed, that glory[j] will be carried to Assyria—
it will become a present for an avenging king.[k]
Ephraim will be disgraced,
and Israel will become ashamed of its decision.
7 Samaria’s king will float away
like driftwood on the surface of water.
8 Destroyed will be the high places of Aven,
that are the sin of Israel.
Both thorn and thistle will grow up over their altars.
They will call out to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’
and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’
9 “From the time of Gibeah,
you have sinned, Israel;
There they took their stand;
the battle at Gibeah could not subdue the lawless.
10 When I’m ready, I will chasten them;
and the people will gather against them,
to imprison them for their two unrighteous acts.”[l]
Israel Urged to Sow in Righteousness
11 “Ephraim, the well-trained heifer,
loves to thresh grain,
so I will spare her neck.
I will turn Ephraim into a pack animal.
Judah will pull the plow,
and Jacob will turn up the fallow ground.
12 Sow in righteousness in your own interest,
reap in gracious love,
break up your own unprepared ground;
It is now time to inquire of[m] the Lord,
until he comes to pour out righteousness for you.
13 You have plowed[n] evil;
you have reaped unrighteousness;
you have eaten the fruit of hypocrisy;
because you trusted in your own direction,
and in the number of your mighty forces.
14 Therefore a disaster will come upon your people,
and all of your fortresses will be ruined.
As Shalman[o] destroyed Beth-arbel in wartime,
mothers were[p] dashed to pieces
along with their children.
15 The same will happen to you, Bethel,
because of your great evil—
early one morning the king of Israel will be totally silenced.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 10:1 Or empty
- Hosea 10:1 Or pillars
- Hosea 10:2 Lit. He
- Hosea 10:2 Or pillars
- Hosea 10:4 Lit. make a covenant
- Hosea 10:4 Cf. Deut 29:18
- Hosea 10:5 I.e. Canaanite heifer deities
- Hosea 10:5 Lit. it
- Hosea 10:5 The Heb. verb depart is similar to the Heb. verb mourn
- Hosea 10:6 Lit. Indeed, it
- Hosea 10:6 Cf. 2Kings 15-16; 2Chr 28:19-20
- Hosea 10:10 So LXX. MT reads two eyes
- Hosea 10:12 Or to worship
- Hosea 10:13 Or fashioned
- Hosea 10:14 Possibly Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; cf. 2Kings 17:3
- Hosea 10:14 Lit. a mother was
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