Hosea 10:4-6
The Message
3-4 They go around saying,
“Who needs a king?
We couldn’t care less about God,
so why bother with a king?
What difference would he make?”
They talk big,
lie through their teeth,
make deals.
But their high-sounding words
turn out to be empty words, litter in the gutters.
5-6 The people of Samaria travel over to Crime City
to worship the golden calf-god.
They go all out, prancing and hollering,
taken in by their showmen priests.
They act so important around the calf-god,
but are oblivious to the sham, the shame.
They have plans to take it to Assyria,
present it as a gift to the great king.
And so Ephraim makes a fool of himself,
disgraces Israel with his stupid idols.
Hosea 10:4-6
New International Version
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)
6 It will be carried to Assyria(H)
as tribute(I) for the great king.(J)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(K)
Israel will be ashamed(L) of its foreign alliances.
Footnotes
- Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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