2 They are hypocrites. Now they must take their punishment.God will tear down their altars and destroy their stone markers.
3 So they’ll say,“We have no king because we didn’t fear the Lord.Even if we had a king, he couldn’t do anything for us.”
4 They say many things. They lie when they take oaths,and they make promises they don’t intend to keep.That’s why lawsuits spring uplike poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
5 Those who live in Samaria fear the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven.The people will mourn over it.The priests will cry loudlybecause its glory will be taken away into captivity.
6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyriaas a present to the great king.Ephraim will be disgraced.Israel will be ashamed because of its plans.
7 The king of Samaria will be carried awaylike a piece of wood on water.
8 The illegal worship sites of Aven will be destroyed.Israel sins there.Thorns and weeds will grow over those altars.People will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”and to the hills, “Fall on us!”