Retribution for Israel’s Sin
Israel is a luxuriant avine;He produces fruit for himself.The more his fruit,The more altars he bmade;The 1richer his land,The better 2he made the cmemorial stones.Lit betterLit theyIs 5:1-7; Ezek 15:1-6Jer 2:28; Hos 8:11; 12:111 Kin 14:23; Hos 3:42 Their heart is 1adeceitful;Now they must suffer for their bguilt.2The LORD will cbreak down their altarsAnd destroy their memorial stones.Lit slippery; or dividedLit He1 Kin 18:21; Zeph 1:5Hos 13:16Hos 10:8; Mic 5:13
3 Certainly now they will say, “We have ano king,For we do not revere the LORD.As for the king, what can he do for us?”Ps 12:4; Is 5:194 They speak mere words,1With aworthless oaths they make covenants;And bjudgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.Or Swearing falsely in making a covenantEzek 17:13-19; Hos 4:2Deut 31:16, 17; 2 Kin 17:3, 4; Amos 5:75 The inhabitants of Samaria will fearFor the 1acalf of bBeth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn for it,And its cidolatrous priests 2will cry out over it,Over its dglory, since it has left it.As in some ancient versions; MT calvesOr who used to rejoice overHos 8:5, 6Hos 4:15; 5:82 Kin 23:5Hos 9:116 The thing itself will be brought to aAssyriaAs a gift of tribute to 1bKing Jareb;Ephraim will 2be cseized with shame,And Israel will be ashamed of its down plan.Another reading is the great king; or the contentious kingLit receive shameHos 11:5Hos 5:13Hos 4:7Is 30:3; Jer 7:247 Samaria will be adestroyed with her king,Like a twig on the surface of the water.Hos 13:118 Also the ahigh places of Aven, the bsin of Israel, will be destroyed;cThorns and thistles will grow on their altars;Then they will dsay to the mountains,“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”Hos 4:131 Kin 12:28-30; 13:34Is 32:13; Hos 9:6; 10:2Is 2:19; Luke 23:30; Rev 6:169 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel;There they stand!Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?10 When it is My adesire, I will 1bdiscipline them;And cthe peoples will be gathered against themWhen they are bound for their double guilt.Or instructJob 23:13; Ezek 5:13Hos 4:9Jer 16:16
11 Ephraim is a trained aheifer that loves to thresh,1And I bpassed over her lovely neck;I will harness Ephraim,Judah will plow, Jacob will 2harrow for himself.Or But I put a yoke on her lovelyI.e., pull a harrow, a farming deviceJer 50:11; Hos 4:16; Mic 4:13Jer 28:1412 aSow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;Harvest in accordance with 1kindness.bBreak up your uncultivated ground,For it is time to cseek the LORDUntil He dcomes and erains righteousness on you.Or loyaltyProv 11:18Jer 4:3Hos 12:6Hos 6:3Is 44:3; 45:813 You have aplowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice,You have eaten the fruit of blies.Because you have trusted in your way, in your cmany warriors,Job 4:8; Prov 22:8; Gal 6:7, 8Hos 4:2; 7:3; 11:12Ps 33:1614 An uproar will arise among your people,And all your afortresses will be destroyed,As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,When bmothers were 1slaughtered with their children.Lit shatteredIs 17:3Hos 13:1615 So it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.