| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Berean Study Bible |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?” |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn with its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced in its glory—for it has been taken from them into exile. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity? |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10I will chasten them when I please; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bondage for their double transgression. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men, |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off. |
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