³ 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?”
⁴ They make many promises,
    take false oaths^(A)
    and make agreements;^(B)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds^(C) in a plowed field.
⁵ 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)