2. Their heart is slipping;soon they will be punished for their guilt.The Lord will break their altars;he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.
3. Very soon they will say, “We have no kingsince we did not fear the Lord.But what can a king do for us anyway?”
4. They utter empty words,taking false oaths and making empty agreements.Therefore legal disputes sprout uplike poisonous weeds in the furrows of a plowed field.
5. The inhabitants of Samaria will lament over the calf idol of Beth Aven.Its people will mourn over it;its idolatrous priests will wail over it,because its splendor will be taken from them into exile.