Passage
The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced over it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
Hosea 10:5 (ASV)
Nearby Context
Hosea 10:3 Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king, what can he do for us?
Hosea 10:4 They speak [vain] words, swearing falsely in making covenants: therefore judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced over it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
Hosea 10:6 It also shall be carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
Hosea 10:7 [As for] Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "inhabitants", "samaria", "shall", "terror", "calves", "beth-aven", "people", and "thereof". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "inhabitants" and "samaria", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 4's "They speak vain words swearing falsely in..." into verse 6's "It also shall be carried unto Assyria...", so "inhabitants" and "samaria" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "inhabitants" and "samaria" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.