Add parallel Print Page Options

Kings Cannot Save You

Certainly now they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not fear the Lord,
    but what could such a king do for us anyway?”
They speak empty words.
    With empty oaths, they make agreements.
    That is why disputes sprout like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
The inhabitants of Samaria will be terrified because of the calf[a] of Beth Aven.
    Yes, its people will mourn over it,
    and its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,
    over its lost glory, because it has gone into exile.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:5 Variant calves

Then they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
    what could he do for us?”
They make many promises,
    take false oaths(A)
    and make agreements;(B)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds(C) in a plowed field.
The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol(D) of Beth Aven.[a](E)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,(F)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.(G)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).