November 12, 2023

10:1   Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
  The more his fruit increased,
    the more altars he built;
  as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
2   Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
  The LORD will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.
3   For now they will say:
    “We have no king,
  for we do not fear the LORD;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
4   They utter mere words;
    with empty oaths they make covenants;
  so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    in the furrows of the field.
5   The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for the calf of Beth-aven.
  Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and over its glory—
    for it has departed from them.
6   The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to the great king.
  Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.
7   Samaria’s king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
8   The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
  Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
  and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9   From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?
10   When I please, I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for their double iniquity.

Open full passage at ESV.org →