10

Israel’s Sin and Captivity

¹Israel ⚓empties his vine;
He brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit
⚓He has increased the altars;
According to the bounty of his land
They have embellished his sacred pillars.
²Their heart is ⚓divided;
Now they are held guilty.
He will break down their altars;
He will ruin their sacred pillars.
³For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
⁴They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up ⚓like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
⁵The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the ⚓calf of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And its priests shriek for it—
Because its ⚓glory has departed from it.
⁶The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King ⚓Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
⁷As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
⁸Also the ⚓high places of Aven, ⚓the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
⚓They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
⁹“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of ⚓Gibeah;
There they stood.
The ⚓battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity
Did not overtake them.
¹⁰When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
⚓Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them for their two transgressions.
¹¹Ephraim is⚓a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”
¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
⚓Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He ⚓comes and rains righteousness on you.
¹³⚓You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
¹⁴Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
¹⁵Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.

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¹Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.
²Their heart is deceitful,
and now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord will demolish their altars
and destroy their sacred stones.

³Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
⁴They make many promises,
take false oaths
and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
⁵The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.⚓
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.
⁶It will be carried to Assyria
as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
⁷Samaria’s king will be destroyed,
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸The high places of wickedness⚓ will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹“Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,
and there you have remained.⚓
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰When I please, I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹²Sow righteousness for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness on you.
¹³But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,
¹⁴the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
¹⁵So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.