Hosea 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.
2 They have divided their hearts; now
shall they be utterly destroyed: he shall dig down their altars, their pillars
shall mourn.
3 Because now they shall say, We have
no king, because we feared not the Lord:
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.
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. 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.
7 Samaria has cast off her king as a
twig on 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.
9 From the time the hills
existed Israel has sinned: there they stood: war
waged against the children of iniquity
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.
11 Ephraim is a heifer taught to love
victory, but I will come upon the fairest part of her neck: I will mount
Ephraim; I will pass over Juda in silence; Jacob shall prevail against him.
12 Sow to yourselves for
righteousness, gather in for the fruit of life: light ye for yourselves the
light of knowledge; seek the Lord till the fruits of righteousness come upon
you. 13 Wherefore have ye passed over
ungodliness in silence, and reaped the sins of it? ye have eaten false fruit;
for thou hast trusted in thy sins, in the abundance of thy power.
14 Therefore shall destruction rise
up among thy people, and all thy strong places shall be ruined: as prince
Solomon departed out of the house of Jeroboam, in the
days of battle they dashed the mother to the ground upon the children,
15 thus will I do to you, O house of
Israel, because of the unrighteousness of your sins.