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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]
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.
Samaria and its king will be cut off;
    they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.
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!”

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Footnotes

  1. 10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
  2. 10:5b Or will be taken away into exile.
  3. 10:8 Aven is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there.

The inhabitants[a] of Samaria tremble
    for the calf[b] of Beth-aven.
Indeed, his people will mourn for it,
    and his idolatrous priests will wail[c] over it—
    over its glory because it has departed from it.
It will also be brought to Assyria,
    as tribute to the great king.[d]
Ephraim will obtain disgrace
    and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.[e]
Samaria will be destroyed;
    her king is like a chip on the surface of the water.
The high places of Aven,
    the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle will grow
    on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:5 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  2. Hosea 10:5 Hebrew “calves”
  3. Hosea 10:5 Or “rejoice”
  4. Hosea 10:6 See 5:13; some translate literally “King Jareb”
  5. Hosea 10:6 Or “counsel”