Hosea 10

Revised Standard Version

³ For now they will say:
    “We have no king,
for we fear not the Lord,
    and a king, what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter mere words;
    with empty oaths they make covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samar′ia tremble
    for the calf^[b] of Beth-a′ven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
    and its idolatrous priests shall wail^[c] over it,
    over its glory which has departed from it.
⁶ Yea, the thing itself shall be carried to Assyria,
    as tribute to the great king.^[d]
E′phraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.^[e]

⁷ Samar′ia’s king shall perish,
    like a chip on the face of the waters.
⁸ The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars;
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us,
    and to the hills, Fall upon us.

⁹ From the days of Gib′e-ah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not war overtake them in Gib′e-ah?
¹⁰ I will come^[f] against the wayward people to chastise them;
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are chastised^[g] for their double iniquity.

¹¹ E′phraim was a trained heifer
    that loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put E′phraim to the yoke,
    Judah must plow,
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness,
    reap the fruit^[h] of steadfast love;
    break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and rain salvation upon you.

¹³ You have plowed iniquity,
    you have reaped injustice,
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your chariots^[i]
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴ therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-ar′bel on the day of battle;
    mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O house of Israel,^[j]
    because of your great wickedness.
In the storm^[k] the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.