Hosea 10:4 (DRB)

Passage

You speak words of an unprofitable vision, and you shall make a covenant: and judgment shall spring up as bitterness in the furrows of the field.

Nearby Context

Hosea 10:2 Their heart is divided: now they shall perish: he shall break down their idols, he shall destroy their altars.

Hosea 10:3 For now they shall say: We have no king: because we fear not the Lord: and what shall a king do to us?

Hosea 10:4 You speak words of an unprofitable vision, and you shall make a covenant: and judgment shall spring up as bitterness in the furrows of the field.

Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the calf of Bethaven: for the people thereof have mourned over it, and the wardens of its temple that rejoiced over it in its glory because it is departed from it.

Hosea 10:6 For itself also is carried into Assyria, a present to the avenging king: shame shall fall upon Ephraim, and Israel shall be confounded in his own will.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "words", "unprofitable", "vision", "shall", "make", "covenant", and "judgment". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speak" and "words", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "For now they shall say We have..." into verse 5's "The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the...", so "speak" and "words" 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 "speak" and "words" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.