Hosea 10:4-6

New International Reader's Version

⁴ They make a lot of promises.
    They make agreements among themselves.
    They make promises they don’t mean to keep.
So court cases spring up
    like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria are filled with fear.
    They are afraid for their god that looks like a calf.
    They’re afraid it will be carried off from Beth Aven, that evil town.
They will mourn over it.
    So will the priests who led them to worship it.
The priests were full of joy
    because their statue was so glorious.
But it will be captured
    and taken far away from them.
⁶ It will be carried off to Assyria.
    The people of Ephraim will be forced
    to give it to the great king.
They will be dishonored.
    Israel will be ashamed
    of its agreements with other nations.