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They make promises,
    swear false oaths, and make covenants,
While lawsuits sprout
    like poisonous weeds[a] in the furrows of a field!

The inhabitants of Samaria are afraid
    for the calf of Beth-aven;[b]
Its people mourn for it
    and its idolatrous priests wail over it,
    —over its glory which has departed from it.(A)
It too will be carried to Assyria,
    as an offering to the great king.[c](B)
Ephraim will be put to shame,
    Israel will be shamed by his schemes.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:4 Lawsuits…like poisonous weeds: the administration of justice, which should have been the mainstay of the people, has in corrupt hands become another instrument of oppression; cf. Am 6:12.
  2. 10:5 The calf of Beth-aven: see note on 4:15.
  3. 10:6 The great king: a title used by the Assyrian kings. See also note on 5:13.