Passage
The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calf of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.
Hosea 10:5 (DBY)
Nearby Context
Hosea 10:3 For now they will say, We have no king, for we feared not Jehovah; and a king, what can he do for us?
Hosea 10:4 They speak [mere] words, swearing falsely in making a covenant; therefore shall judgment spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the fields.
Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calf of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.
Hosea 10:6 Yea, it shall be carried unto Assyria [as] a present for king Jareb: Ephraim shall be seized with shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
Hosea 10:7 As for Samaria her king is cut off as chips upon the face of the waters.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "inhabitants", "samaria", "shall", "fear", "calf", "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 mere words swearing falsely in..." into verse 6's "Yea it 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.