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For now they will say,
    “We have no king;
indeed, we did not fear Yahweh,
    and what can a king do for us?”
They utter words of vain oaths
    when making covenants,[a]
and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant
    on the furrows of the field.
The inhabitants[b] of Samaria tremble
    for the calf[c] of Beth-aven.
Indeed, his people will mourn for it,
    and his idolatrous priests will wail[d] over it—
    over its glory because it has departed from it.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:4 Literally “cutting covenant”
  2. Hosea 10:5 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  3. Hosea 10:5 Hebrew “calves”
  4. Hosea 10:5 Or “rejoice”

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)

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Footnotes

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