KJV King James Version
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Hosea 10:8
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
WEB World English Bible
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”
ASV American Standard Version
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
And destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.
Surrounding context — Hosea 10
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria [for] a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 [As for] Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10 [It is] in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11 And Ephraim [is as] an heifer [that is] taught, [and] loveth to tread out [the corn]; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, [and] Jacob shall break his clods.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
וְנִשְׁמְד֞וּH8045 · sha.madto destroyבָּמ֣וֹתH1116 · ba.mahhigh placeאָ֗וֶןH206 · a.ven(Valley of) Avenחַטַּאת֙H2403 · chat.ta.ahsinיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לH3478 · yis.ra.elIsraelק֣וֹץH6975 · qotsthornוְדַרְדַּ֔רH1863 · dar.darthistleיַעֲלֶ֖הH5927 · a.lahto ascend: riseעַל־H5921 · aluponמִזְבְּחוֹתָ֑םH4196 · miz.be.achaltarוְאָמְר֤וּH559 · a.marto sayלֶֽהָרִים֙H2022 · harmountain: mountכַּסּ֔וּנוּH3680 · ka.sahto coverוְלַגְּבָע֖וֹתH1389 · giv.ahGibeath-(elohim)נִפְל֥וּH5307 · na.phalto fall: fallעָלֵֽינוּ׃ סH5921 · alupon
Cross-references
Luke 23:30Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.Revelation 6:16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:Isaiah 2:19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.1 Kings 12:28-30Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves [of] gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.Hosea 9:6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles.Isaiah 32:13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns [and] briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy [in] the joyous city:Amos 8:14They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.Micah 1:13O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she [is] the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.2 Chronicles 34:5-7And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.1 Kings 14:16And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.2 Kings 23:15Moreover the altar that [was] at Bethel, [and] the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, [and] stamped [it] small to powder, and burned the grove.1 Kings 13:34And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut [it] off, and to destroy [it] from off the face of the earth.Hosea 10:5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.Hosea 4:15Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.Isaiah 34:13And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls.2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.1 Kings 13:2And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.Deuteronomy 9:21And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, [and] ground [it] very small, [even] until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
Compare classic commentaries on Hosea 10:8
Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.
Compare commentaries →