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.

Israel is a branching vine, full of fruit; as his fruit is increased, so the number of his altars is increased; as the land is fair, so they have made fair pillars.

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

Their mind is taken away; now they will be made waste: he will have their altars broken down, he will give their pillars to destruction.

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

Now, truly, they will say, We have no king, we have no fear of the Lord; and the king, what is he able to 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.

Their words are foolish; they make agreements with false oaths, so punishment will come up like a poison-plant in a ploughed 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.

The people of Samaria will be full of fear because of the ox of Beth-aven; its people will have sorrow for it, and its priests will give cries of grief for its glory, for the glory has gone in flight.

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.

And they will take it to Assyria and give it to the great king; shame will come on Ephraim, and Israel will be shamed because of its image.

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

As for Samaria, her king is cut off, like mist on 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 the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will come to destruction; thorns and waste plants will come up on their altars; they will say to the mountains, Be a cover over us; and to the hills, Come down on us.

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

O Israel, you have done evil from the days of Gibeah; there they took up their position, so that the fighting against the children of evil might not overtake them in Gibeah.

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,

I will come and give them punishment; and the peoples will come together against them when I give them the reward of their two sins.

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 a trained cow, taking pleasure in crushing the grain; but I have put a yoke on her fair neck; I will put a horseman on the back of Ephraim; Judah will be working the plough, Jacob will be turning up the earth.

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.

Put in the seed of righteousness, get in your grain in mercy, let your unploughed earth be turned up: for it is time to make search for the Lord, till he comes and sends righteousness on you like rain.

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.

You have been ploughing sin, you have got in a store of evil, the fruit of deceit has been your food: for you put faith in your way, in the number of your men of war.

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,

So a great outcry will go up from among your people, and all your strong places will be broken, as Beth-arbel was broken by Shalman in the day of war, as the mother was broken on the rocks with her children.

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

So will Beth-el do to you because of your evil-doing; at dawn will the king of Israel be cut off completely.