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1Israel was like a healthy vine that had lots of grapes .
But as the Israelites became more and more rich,
they built more and more altars .
As their land gave more crops ,
they made the pillars that they worshipped more beautiful.
2They do not truly trust God.
They are guilty and they must receive their punishment .
The Lord will break their altars.
He will destroy their special pillars.
3Soon these people will say,
‘We did not respect the Lord 's authority.
Because of that we have no king.
But even if we had a king now,
he could not do anything to help us.’
4They promise to do many things,
but they never do what they promise.
They make useless agreements .
So people accuse each other in the courts .
They are like weeds that grow in a farmer's field.
5The people who live in Samaria will be afraid.
They will worry about their image of a calf at Beth Aven.
They will weep because it will go away from them.
The priests who serve the idol will cry too.
They know that an enemy will take away their great and beautiful idol.
6Assyria's army will carry the idol away.[#10:6 Assyria's army will take the away when they win the war.]
It will be a gift to give honour to Assyria's great king.
Ephraim's people will feel ashamed .
They will be sorry that they trusted in their wooden idol.
7The people of Samaria and their king will come to an end.[#10:7 King Hoshea of Israel was put in a prison in 723 . See 2 Kings 17:1-6.]
They will be like a small stick that water carries away.
8The wicked altars on the hills will break into pieces.[#10:8 Assyria destroyed Samaria in 722 . Nobody built it again.]
These are places where Israel's people have done bad things.
Thorn bushes and weeds will grow all over their altars.
Then the people will say to the mountains, ‘Hide us!’
They will say to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’
9The Lord says,
‘People of Israel, you have continued to do bad things,
since the time that you were at Gibeah.
When the people did evil things at Gibeah,
war destroyed them as a result.
10When I decide that the time is right,
I will punish the Israelites.
Because of their many sins ,
I will bring other nations to attack them.
Their enemies will tie them up with chains .
11Ephraim was like a cow that I had taught to stamp on grain .[#10:11 Farmers used cows to stamp on , so that the seeds of grain became separate from the .]
She loved to work for me.
But now I will make her do hard work!
I will put a heavy yoke on her beautiful neck.
Judah will also have to plough the ground.
Jacob's descendants must work to dig up the hard ground.
12Be like a farmer who plants good seed.
Plant things that are good and right.
Then your harvest will be faithful love.
Plough the hard ground and prepare it for the Lord to bless you.
It is time for you to turn back to the Lord .
Then he will bless you with good things,
like rain that falls on the ground!
13But instead, you have planted evil things.
So your harvest is terrible trouble.
The food that you eat comes from your lies .
You trusted in your own strength to save you.
You thought that your strong army would keep you safe.
14So you will soon hear the noise of war.
Enemies will destroy all your strong buildings.
It will be like the time that King Shalman's army destroyed Beth-Arbel.
In that battle , cruel soldiers killed mothers together with their children.
15The same thing will happen to you, people of Bethel,
because of the wicked things that you have done.
When the day of your punishment arrives,
the king of Israel will surely die.’