Hosea 8

ISRAEL’S FALSE HOPES

8Put the trumpet to your mouth!^aq

One like an eagle comes

against the house of the Lord,^ar

because they transgress my covenant^as

and rebel against my law.^a

²Israel cries out to me,^b

“My God, we know you!”

³Israel has rejected what is good;^c

an enemy will pursue him.

⁴They have installed kings,^d

but not through me.

They have appointed leaders,

but without my approval.

They make their silver and gold^e

into idols for themselves

for their own destruction.^D

⁵Your calf-idol^Ef is rejected, Samaria.^g

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of innocence?^h

⁶For this thing is from Israel—

a craftsman made it,ⁱ and it is not God.

The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

⁷Indeed, they sow the wind^j

and reap the whirlwind.^k

There is no standing grain;

what sprouts fails to yield flour.^l

Even if they did,

foreigners would swallow it up.

⁸Israel is swallowed up!^m

Now they are among the nations

like discarded pottery.ⁿ

⁹For they have gone up to Assyria^o

like a wild donkey going off on its own.

Ephraim has paid for love.^p

¹⁰Even though they hire lovers among the nations,

I will now round them up,

and they will begin to decrease in number^q

under the burden of the king and leaders.^r

¹¹When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,^s

they became his altars for sinning.

¹²Though I were to write out for him

ten thousand points of my instruction,^t

they would be^A regarded as something strange.

¹³Though they offer sacrificial gifts^Bu

and eat the flesh,^v

the Lord does not accept them.

Now he will remember their guilt^w

and punish their sins;^x

they will return to Egypt.^y

¹⁴Israel has forgotten his Maker^z and built palaces;^aa

Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.

I will send fire on their cities,^ab

and it will consume their citadels.