qIsrael is a luxuriant vine

that yields its fruit.

The more his fruit increased,

rthe more altars he built;

as his country improved,

he improved his pillars.

2  Their heart is false;

now they must bear their guilt.

The Lord1 will break down their altars

and destroy their pillars.

3  For now they will say:

s“We have no king,

for we do not fear the Lord;

and a king—what could he do for us?”

4  They utter tmere words;

with empty2 oaths they make covenants;

so ujudgment springs up like poisonous weeds

vin the furrows of the field.

5  The inhabitants of Samaria tremble

for wthe calf3 of xBeth-aven.

Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—

those who rejoiced over it and yover its glory—

for it has departed4 from them.

6  zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria

as tribute to athe great king.5

Ephraim shall be put to shame,

and Israel shall be ashamed bof his idol.6

7  cSamaria’s king shall perish

like a twig on the face of the waters.

8  The high places of xAven, dthe sin of Israel,

shall be destroyed.

eThorn and thistle shall grow up

on their altars,

and fthey shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”

and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

9  From gthe days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;

there they have continued.

Shall not the war against the unjust7 overtake them in Gibeah?

10  hWhen I please, iI will discipline them,

and nations shall be gathered against them

when they are bound up for jtheir double iniquity.