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From now on they will say,
    ‘We have no king,
        because we did not fear the Lord
    and what would a king do for us?’
Their word is falsely given
    as they make their agreements;[a]
so judgment springs up
    like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.[b]

“The residents of Samaria will be terrified
    because of the cows[c] of Beth-aven.
Its people will mourn over Beth-aven,[d]
    along with the priests who will mourn its glory,
        because that glory has departed.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:4 Lit. make a covenant
  2. Hosea 10:4 Cf. Deut 29:18
  3. Hosea 10:5 I.e. Canaanite heifer deities
  4. Hosea 10:5 Lit. it
  5. Hosea 10:5 The Heb. verb depart is similar to the Heb. verb mourn

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

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).