Hosea 8:1–10:15
8 Put to your lips the trumpet
like a vulture over the house of Yahweh,
because they have ⌊broken my covenant⌋a
and rebelled against my law.
“My God! We, Israel, know you!”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy will pursue him.
4 They appointed kings, but not through me;
they made officials, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold
they made idols for themselves
for theirb own ⌊destruction⌋.c
5 Your calf is rejected,d O Samaria;
my anger burns against them.
How longe will they be incapable of innocence?
an artisan made it,
it is not a god;
for the calf of Samaria
will be broken to pieces.
they will reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain does not have heads;f
it will not yield flour.
And if it would yield,
strangers would devour it.
now they are among the nations,
like an object that no one desires.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey alone to itself;
Ephraim has sold itself for lovers.
10 Even though they have sold themselves to the nations,
now I will gather them.
They will soon writhe
from the burden of kingsg and princes.
11 When Ephraim multiplied altars
to expiate sins,
they became to him altars to sin on.
12 I write for him myriads of my instruction;h
they are regarded as a strange thing.
13 They offer sacrifices of my choicei
and they eat flesh;
Yahweh does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his maker and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
but I will send fire on his cities
and it will devour her strongholds.
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel,
do not exult like the nations!
For you played the whore, departing from your God;
you loved a harlot’s wage
on all the threshing floors of grain.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat will not feed them,
and new wine will fail her.a
in the land of Yahweh.
But Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
4 They will not pour drink offerings of wine to Yahweh,
and their sacrifices will not please him.
They are like mourners’ bread for them;
all those who eat it will be defiled.
For their bread will be ⌊for their hunger⌋;b
it will not come to the house of Yahweh.
5 What will you do on the day of the appointed time,
and on the day of the festival of Yahweh?
6 For look! If they flee from the destruction,
Egypt will gather them;
Memphisc will bury them.
Nettles will possess
their precious things of silver;
thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of retribution have come;
Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool,
the man of the spirit is acting like a madman.
Because of the greatness of your sin,
your hostility is great.
8 The prophet keeps watch over Ephraim for my God;
the snare of a fowler is on all his ways,
and hostility in the house of his God.
9 ⌊They deeply corrupted themselves⌋d
as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their sin,
he will punish their sins.
10 Like the grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,e
I saw your ancestors.f
They themselves came to Baal Peor,
and they consecrated themselves to shame.
And they became detestable things,
like ⌊the thing they love⌋.g
11 Ephraim’s glory is like a bird;
it will fly away—
no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
12 Even though they bring up their children,
I will bereave them before maturity.h
Woe to them indeed,
when I depart from them!
is like a palm in a meadow;
but Ephraim must bring out
his children to the slayer.
what will you give them?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal,
so I began to hate them there;
because of the evil of their deeds
I will drive them out from my house.
I will love them no more;
all their officials are rebels.
their root is dried up,
they shall not bear fruit.
Even if they give birth,
I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb.
because they did not listen to him,
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine;a
he yields fruit for himself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he made numerous altars.
The more his land prospered,
the more heb improvedc his stone pillars.
now they must bear their guilt.
He himselfd will break down their altars;
he will destroy their stone pillars.
“We have no king;
indeed, we did not fear Yahweh,
and what can a king do for us?”
4 They utter words of vain oaths
when ⌊making covenants⌋,e
and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant
on the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitantsf of Samaria tremble
for the calfg of Beth-aven.
Indeed, his people will mourn for it,
and his idolatrous priests will wailh over it—
over its glory because it has departed from it.
6 It will also be brought to Assyria,
as tribute to the great king.i
Ephraim will obtain disgrace
and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.j
her king is like a chip on the surface of the water.
the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle will grow
on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9 From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there ⌊they have remained⌋.k
Will not war in Gibeah overtake them
against the children of evil?
10 In my desirel I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
when they are punished for ⌊their double iniquities⌋.m
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer,
that loved to thresh grain,
and I myself ⌊spared⌋n
the fairness of her neck;
I will make Ephraim break the ground,
Judah will plow,
Jacob must till for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
⌊reap loyal love⌋.o
Break up for yourself fallow ground;
it is time to seek Yahweh
so he will come and rain
righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies,p
because you have trusted in your strength,
in the multitude of your warriors.
14 The tumult of war will rise up against your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel;
on the day of war
mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.q
15 So it will be done to you, O Bethel,
because of the evil of your wickedness;
at dawn, the king of Israel
will be utterly destroyed.