Hosea 8:10
Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.
In Hosea 8:1-12 the verse stands within a warning of judgment for covenant disobedience. Israel had rejected what was good, disregarded God's law, and treated His instruction as something strange and foreign to them. That rebellion is the setting that gives the verse its force, as a divine sentence upon a people breaking covenant.
To hire among the nations means to seek help and security from other nations instead of trusting God. For that course God would gather them, and they would sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes, meaning they would suffer under oppressive rule as judgment. The charge of transgressing God's law reaches beyond ancient Israel and applies to the last days, when human laws are exalted above God's law. In that final application, those loyal to God's commandments will face persecution and unjust courts, especially over the fourth commandment and the Sabbath.