Hosea 10:8 (ASV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

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.

Hosea 10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.

Hosea 10:10 When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "high", "places", "aven", "israel", "shall", "destroyed", "thorn", and "thistle". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "high" and "places", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "As for Samaria her king is cut..." into verse 9's "O Israel thou hast sinned from the...", so "high" and "places" 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 "high" and "places" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.