Passage
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.
Hosea 10:5 (KJV)
Nearby Context
Hosea 10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
Hosea 10:4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
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.
Hosea 10:6 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.
Hosea 10:7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "inhabitants", "samaria", "shall", "fear", "calves", "bethaven", "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 have spoken words swearing falsely in..." into verse 6's "It shall be also 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.