Hosea 10

You Have Sinned, O Israel

¹Israel is a luxuriant vine;[#10:1 Or degenerate]

He produces fruit for himself.

The more abundant his fruit,

The more altars he abounded;

The better his land,

The better he made the sacred pillars.

²Their heart is faithless;[#10:2 Lit smooth]

Now they must bear their guilt.

Yahweh will break down their altars

And destroy their sacred pillars.

³¶Surely now they will say, “We have no king,

For we do not fear Yahweh.

As for the king, what can he do for us?”

⁴They speak mere words;

With worthless oaths they cut covenants;

And judgment flourishes like gall in the furrows of the field.

⁵The dweller of Samaria will fear

For the calf of Beth-aven.

Indeed, its people will mourn for it,

And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,

Over its glory, since it has gone into exile from them.

⁶The thing itself will be carried to Assyria

As tribute to King Jareb;

Ephraim will receive shame,

And Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel.

⁷Samaria will be ruined with her king

Like a stick on the surface of the water.

⁸Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be eradicated;[#10:8 Or destroyed]

Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars;

Then they will say to the mountains,

“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;

There they stand!

Will not the battle against the sons of injustice overtake them in Gibeah?

¹⁰When it is My desire, I will chastise them;[#10:10 Or bind]

And the peoples will be gathered against them

When they are bound for their double guilt.

The Trained Heifer

¹¹¶And Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh,

But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke ;

I will harness Ephraim;

Judah will plow; Jacob will harrow for himself.

¹²Sow with a view to righteousness,

Reap in accordance with lovingkindness;

Break up your fallow ground,

Indeed, it is time to seek Yahweh

Until He comes and rains righteousness on you.

¹³You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice;

You have eaten the fruit of deception.

Because you have trusted in your way, in your abundant warriors,

¹⁴Therefore a rumbling will arise among your people,

And all your fortifications will be destroyed,

As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,

When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

¹⁵Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your evil of evils.

At dawn the king of Israel will be completely ruined.