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They make promises, but they are only telling lies. They don’t keep their promises. They make agreements with other countries. God does not like those agreements. The judges are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.

The people from Samaria worship the calves at Beth Aven.[a] They will cry. The priests will cry, because their beautiful idol is gone. It was carried away. It was carried away as a gift to the great king of Assyria. He will keep Ephraim’s shameful idol. Israel will be ashamed of its idol.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven A name meaning “House of Evil.” It is a wordplay on the name “Bethel,” a name meaning “House of God.” There was a temple in this town.
  2. Hosea 10:6 idol Or “advice.”

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)
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.

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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).