הושע 10
| גפן בוקק ישראל פרי ישוה לו כרב לפריו הרבה למזבחות--כטוב לארצו היטיבו מצבות | 1 |
“Israel was [like a large] healthy/luxuriant vine [MET] that produced [a lot of] grapes. But as the people became richer, they made more altars [at which to worship idols]. As the people prospered, they [built and] decorated sacred pillars [that they worshiped].
| חלק לבם עתה יאשמו הוא יערף מזבחותם ישדד מצבותם | 2 |
They are deceitful; [so] now they are guilty and must be punished. [I], Yahweh, will tear down their altars and smash those pillars.
| כי עתה יאמרו אין מלך לנו כי לא יראנו את יהוה והמלך מה יעשה לנו | 3 |
Then they will say, ‘It is because we did not revere Yahweh that we no [longer] have a king. But [even if we had] a king, he certainly could not [RHQ] do anything to help us.’
| דברו דברים אלות שוא כרת ברית ופרח כראש משפט על תלמי שדי | 4 |
They falsely promise [that they will do many things]; they solemnly promise and make agreements, but they do not do what they promise. So people accuse and sue [each other in the courts]; they are like [SIM] poisonous weeds [that grow] in a plowed field.
| לעגלות בית און יגורו שכן שמרון כי אבל עליו עמו וכמריו עליו יגילו--על כבודו כי גלה ממנו | 5 |
The people who live in Samaria [city] are worried about [what may happen to the idol that resembles] a calf [that they set up] at Beth-Aven [town]. The people in Samaria will mourn, and the priests there will cry about it [if it is damaged or destroyed]. [Previously] they shouted joyfully about its being very great; but now it will not be great any more.
| גם אותו לאשור יובל מנחה למלך ירב בשנה אפרים יקח ויבוש ישראל מעצתו | 6 |
It will be taken to Assyria to be a gift for the great King [of Assyria]. [So the people of] Israel will be disgraced, and they will be ashamed because [they trusted in] that idol.
| נדמה שמרון מלכה כקצף על פני מים | 7 |
The King of Samaria [and the other people in Samaria] will be gone; they will be like [SIM] a twig [that floats away] on the surface of the water [and disappears].
| ונשמדו במות און חטאת ישראל--קוץ ודרדר יעלה על מזבחותם ואמרו להרים כסונו ולגבעות נפלו עלינו | 8 |
The altars on the tops of hills [where the people worshiped idols] will be destroyed; those have been the places where the people of Israel sinned greatly. Thorns and weeds will grow and cover those altars. Then the people will plead to the mountains and hills, ‘Fall [down and] cover us [to protect us from God punishing us]!’
| מימי הגבעה חטאת ישראל שם עמדו לא תשיגם בגבעה מלחמה על בני עלוה | 9 |
[You people of] Israel, [ever since your ancestors did evil things] at Gibeah, you have continued to sin. [When the people at] [PRS] Gibeah [did evil things], the result was a war [in which thousands of people died].
| באותי ואסרם ואספו עליהם עמים באסרם לשתי עינתם (עונותם) | 10 |
[So now], when I want to, I will punish the Israeli people. Because of the many sins that they have committed, [the armies of other] nations will gather to attack them, and they will cause the Israeli people to become their slaves.
| ואפרים עגלה מלמדה אהבתי לדוש ואני עברתי על טוב צוארה ארכיב אפרים יחרוש יהודה ישדד לו יעקב | 11 |
Israel is [like] [MET] a well-trained (heifer/young cow) that likes to thresh [grain]. [So now you will become slaves]. [It will be as though] I will put a yoke on your neck, and you will be forced to work hard for your enemies in their fields. [You people of] Israel and Judah [will be forced to go to Assyria]; there you [DOU] will pull plows to break up the ground [for planting seeds].
| זרעו לכם לצדקה קצרו לפי חסד נירו לכם ניר ועת לדרוש את יהוה עד יבוא וירה צדק לכם | 12 |
[You plow your fields and plant your seeds] and harvest [your crops] [MET], [but what you need to do is] to act righteously and to faithfully love [me]; you need to repent [MET], because it is time to try to know [me], Yahweh; and if you do that, I will pour out [MET] many blessings on you.
| חרשתם רשע עולתה קצרתם אכלתם פרי כחש--כי בטחת בדרכך ברב גבוריך | 13 |
You [plant seeds and harvest the crops and eat them]; [but what I consider that you have really done is] that you have planted wicked things and harvested evil things and eaten [MET] the results [IDM] of the lies [that you have told]. [Instead of trusting in me, ] you have (depended on/trusted in) your own power and in your many soldiers.
| וקאם שאון בעמך וכל מבצריך יושד כשד שלמן בית ארבאל ביום מלחמה אם על בנים רטשה | 14 |
As a result, you will [soon] hear the roar of battle, and all your cities that have walls around them will be destroyed, like [SIM] Shalman’s [army] destroyed Beth-Arbel [city] in a battle, and the women [in that city] and their children were bashed to death.
| ככה עשה לכם בית אל מפני רעת רעתכם בשחר נדמה נדמה מלך ישראל | 15 |
[You people of] [APO] Bethel [city], that is what will happen to you, because you are very wicked. And when the sun rises [on that day], the King of Israel will be killed [in the battle].”
