Hosea 10:1-8

Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship

10:1 Israel was a fertile vine

that yielded fruit.

As his fruit multiplied,

he multiplied altars to Baal.

As his land prospered,

they adorned the fertility pillars.

10:2 Their heart is slipping;

soon they will be punished for their guilt.

The Lord will break their altars;

he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

The Lord Will Punish Israel by Removing Its Kings

10:3 Very soon they will say, “We have no king

since we did not fear the Lord.

But what can a king do for us anyway?”

10:4 They utter empty words,

taking false oaths and making empty agreements.

Therefore legal disputes sprout up

like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a plowed field.

The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled

10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria will lament over the calf idol of Beth Aven.

Its people will mourn over it;

its idolatrous priests will wail over it,

because its splendor will be taken from them into exile.

10:6 Even the calf idol will be carried to Assyria,

as tribute for the great king.

Ephraim will be disgraced;

Israel will be put to shame because of its wooden idol.

10:7 Samaria and its king will be carried off

like a twig on the surface of the waters.

10:8 The high places of the “House of Wickedness” will be destroyed;

it is the place where Israel sins.

Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars.

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”