Osee 10

1 Israel is a vine with goodly branches, her fruit is abundant: according to the multitude of her fruits she has multiplied [her] altars; according to the wealth of his land, he has set up pillars.

An emptied vine is Israel; how should he bring forth fruit for himself? the more numerous was his fruit the more he increased the altars; the more prosperous was his land, the more they made goodly statues.

2 They have divided their hearts; now shall they be utterly destroyed: he shall dig down their altars, their pillars shall mourn.

Their heart is divided; now shall they bear their guilt: this will break down their altars, will devastate their statues.

3 Because now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord:

For now will they say, We have no king; because we fear not the Lord: and the king—what can he do for us?

4 and what should a king do for us, speaking false professions [as his] words? he will make a covenant: judgment shall spring up as a weed on the soil of the field.

They have spoken [vain] words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: therefore springeth up the punishment as poison in the furrows of the field.

5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall dwell near the calf of the house of On; for the people of it mourned for it: and as they provoked him, they shall rejoice at his glory, because he has departed from them.

For the calves of Beth-aven are terrified the inhabitants of Samaria: yea, the people thereof mourn over them, and also its false priests that [before] rejoiced over them, for its glory, because it is departed from it.

6 And having bound it for the Assyrians, they carried it away as presents to king Jarim: Ephraim shall receive a gift, and Israel shall be ashamed of his counsel.

Also this shall be carried unto Assyria for a present to the contentious king: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed because of his own counsel.

7 Samaria has cast off her king as a twig on the surface of the water.

As for Samaria, her king shall vanish like the foam upon the surface of the water.

8 And the altars of On, the sins of Israel, shall be taken away: thorns and thistles shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

And destroyed shall be the high-places of Aven, [the cause of] the sin of Israel; the thorn and the thistle shall grow upon their altars: and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall upon us.

9 From the time the hills [existed] Israel has sinned: there they stood: war [waged] against the children of iniquity

More than in the days of Gib'ah hast thou sinned, O Israel! there they stood; and the battle in Gib'ah against the children of wickedness did not overtake them.

10 to chastise them shall not overtake them on the hill, the nations shall be gathered against them, when they are chastened for their two sins,

[But now] after my desire will I chastise them: and the people shall be gathered against them, when they harness them [for labor] in their two furrows.

11 Ephraim is a heifer taught to love victory, but I will come upon the fair part of her neck: I will mount Ephraim; I will pass over Juda in silence; Jacob shall prevail against him.

And Ephraim is as a well-taught heifer that loveth to tread out the corn; and I passed over her fair neck: now will I make Ephraim draw the wagon, Judah shall plough, and Jacob shall harrow the field for the enemy.

12 Sow to yourselves for righteousness, gather in for the fruit of life: light you for yourselves the light of knowledge; seek the Lord till the fruits of righteousness come upon you.

Sow then for yourselves after righteousness, that you may reap [the fruit] of kindness; cultivate your fallow field; for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness down for you.

13 Therefore have you passed over ungodliness in silence, and reaped the sins of it? you have eaten false fruit; for you has trusted in your sins, in the abundance of your power.

[But] ye have ploughed wickedness, iniquity have ye reaped, ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy own way, in the multitude of thy mighty men:

14 Therefore shall destruction rise up among your people, and all your strong places shall be ruined: as a prince Solomon [departed] out of the house of Jeroboam, in the days of battle they dashed the mother to the ground upon the children,

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be wasted, as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel on the day of battle, [when] the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

15 thus will I do to you, O house of Israel, because of the unrighteousness of your sins.

The like of this doth Beth-el procure unto you because of your great wickedness: in the early morning shall utterly pass away the king of Israel.