Hosea 10

1 Israel is a branching vine, full of fruit; as his fruit is increased, so the number of his altars is increased; as the land is fair, so they have made fair pillars.

'An empty vine [is] Israel, Fruit he maketh like to himself, According to the abundance of his fruit, He hath multiplied for the altars, According to the goodness of his land, They have made goodly standing-pillars.

2 Their mind is taken away; now they will be made waste: he will have their altars broken down, he will give their pillars to destruction.

Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.

3 Now, truly, they will say, We have no king, we have no fear of the Lord; and the king, what is he able to do for us?

For now they say: We have no king, Because we have not feared Jehovah, And the king — what doth he for us?

4 Their words are foolish; they make agreements with false oaths, so punishment will come up like a poison-plant in a ploughed field.

They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.

5 The people of Samaria will be full of fear because of the ox of Beth-aven; its people will have sorrow for it, and its priests will give cries of grief for its glory, for the glory has gone in flight.

For the calves of Beth-Aven fear do inhabitants of Samaria, Surely mourned on account of it hath its people, And its priests on account of it leap about, Because of its honour, for it hath removed from it,

6 And they will take it to Assyria and give it to the great king; shame will come on Ephraim, and Israel will be shamed because of its image.

Also it to Asshur is carried, a present to a warlike king, Shame doth Ephraim receive, And ashamed is Israel of its own counsel.

7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off, like mist on the water.

Cut off is Samaria! Its king [is] as a chip on the face of the waters.

8 And the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will come to destruction; thorns and waste plants will come up on their altars; they will say to the mountains, Be a cover over us; and to the hills, Come down on us.

And destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.

9 O Israel, you have done evil from the days of Gibeah; there they took up their position, so that the fighting against the children of evil might not overtake them in Gibeah.

From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel, There they have stood, Not overtake them in Gibeah doth battle, Because of sons of perverseness.

10 I will come and give them punishment; and the peoples will come together against them when I give them the reward of their two sins.

When I desire, then I do bind them, And gathered against them have peoples, When they bind themselves to their two iniquities.

11 And Ephraim is a trained cow, taking pleasure in crushing the grain; but I have put a yoke on her fair neck; I will put a horseman on the back of Ephraim; Judah will be working the plough, Jacob will be turning up the earth.

And Ephraim [is] a trained heifer — loving to thresh, And I — I have passed over on the goodness of its neck, I cause [one] to ride Ephraim, Plough doth Judah, harrow for him doth Jacob.

12 Put in the seed of righteousness, get in your grain in mercy, let your unploughed earth be turned up: for it is time to make search for the Lord, till he comes and sends righteousness on you like rain.

Sow for yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to loving-kindness, Till for yourselves tillage of knowledge, To seek Jehovah, Till he come and shew righteousness to you.

13 You have been ploughing sin, you have got in a store of evil, the fruit of deceit has been your food: for you put faith in your way, in the number of your men of war.

Ye have ploughed wickedness, Perversity ye have reaped, Ye have eaten the fruit of lying, For thou hast trusted in thy way, In the abundance of thy might.

14 So a great outcry will go up from among your people, and all your strong places will be broken, as Beth-arbel was broken by Shalman in the day of war, as the mother was broken on the rocks with her children.

And rise doth a tumult among thy people, And all thy fortresses are spoiled, As the spoiling of Shalman of Beth-Arbel, In a day of battle, Mother against sons dashed in pieces.

15 So will Beth-el do to you because of your evil-doing; at dawn will the king of Israel be cut off completely.

Thus hath Beth-El done to you, Because of the evil of your wickedness, In the dawn cut off utterly is a king of Israel!