Israel is a 1luxuriant
avine
; He produces
fruit
for himself. The more
his fruit
, The more
altars
he bmade
; The 2richer
his land
, The better
3he made
the sacred cpillars
.
Their heart is 1 afaithless
; Now
they must bear
their bguilt
. 2The LORD will cbreak
down
their altars
And destroy
their sacred pillars
.
Surely 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?"
They speak mere words
, 1With aworthless
oaths
they make
covenants
; And bjudgment
sprouts
like poisonous
weeds
in the furrows
of the field
.
The inhabitants of Samaria
will fear
For the 1 acalf
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 departed
from it.
The thing itself will be carried
to aAssyria
As tribute
to 1 bKing
Jareb
; Ephraim
will 2be cseized
with shame
And Israel
will be ashamed
of its down counsel
.
Samaria will be acut
off
with her king
Like a stick
on the surface
of the water
.
Also the ahigh places
of Aven
, the bsin
of Israel
, will be destroyed
; cThorn
and thistle
will grow
on their altars
; Then they will dsay
to the mountains
, "Cover
us!" And to the hills
, "Fall
on us!"
From the days of Gibeah
you have sinned
, O Israel
; There
they stand
! Will not the battle
against
the sons
of iniquity
overtake
them in Gibeah
?
When it is My adesire, I will 1 bchastise
them; And cthe peoples
will be gathered
against
them When they are bound
for their double
guilt
.
Ephraim is a trained
aheifer
that loves
to thresh
, But I will bcome
over
her fair
neck
with a yoke; I will harness
Ephraim
, Judah
will plow
, Jacob
will harrow
for himself.
aSow with a view to righteousness
, Reap
in accordance
with 1kindness
; bBreak
up your fallow
ground
, For it is time
to cseek
the LORD
Until
He dcomes
to 2 erain
righteousness
on you.
You have aplowed wickedness
, you have reaped
injustice
, You have eaten
the fruit
of blies
. Because
you have trusted
in your way
, in your cnumerous
warriors
,
Therefore a tumult 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 dashed
in pieces
with their children
.
Thus it will be done
to you at Bethel
because
of your great
wickedness
. At dawn
the king
of Israel
will be completely
cut
off
.