Hosea 7–8

7whenever I would heal Israel,

the sins of Ephraim are exposed

and the crimes of Samaria revealed.^k

They practice deceit,^l

thieves break into houses,^m

bandits rob in the streets;ⁿ

²but they do not realize

that I remember^o all their evil deeds.^p

Their sins engulf them;^q

they are always before me.

³“They delight the king with their wickedness,

the princes with their lies.^r

⁴They are all adulterers,^s

burning like an oven

whose fire the baker need not stir

from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

⁵On the day of the festival of our king

the princes become inflamed with wine,^t

and he joins hands with the mockers.^u

⁶Their hearts are like an oven;^v

they approach him with intrigue.

Their passion smolders all night;

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are hot as an oven;

they devour their rulers.

All their kings fall,^w

and none of them calls^x on me.

⁸“Ephraim mixes^y with the nations;

Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.

⁹Foreigners sap his strength,^z

but he does not realize it.

His hair is sprinkled with gray,

but he does not notice.

¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,^a

but despite all this

he does not return^b to the Lord his God

or search^c for him.

¹¹“Ephraim is like a dove,^d

easily deceived and senseless—

now calling to Egypt,^e

now turning to Assyria.^f

¹²When they go, I will throw my net^g over them;

I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.

When I hear them flocking together,

I will catch them.

¹³Woe^h to them,

because they have strayedⁱ from me!

Destruction to them,

because they have rebelled against me!

I long to redeem them

but they speak about me^j falsely.^k

¹⁴They do not cry out to me from their hearts^l

but wail on their beds.

They slash themselves,^a appealing to their gods

for grain and new wine,^m

but they turn away from me.ⁿ

¹⁵I trained^o them and strengthened their arms,

but they plot evil^p against me.

¹⁶They do not turn to the Most High;^q

they are like a faulty bow.^r

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because of their insolent^s words.

For this they will be ridiculed^t

in the land of Egypt.^u

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

8“Put the trumpet^v to your lips!

An eagle^w is over the house of the Lord

because the people have broken my covenant^x

and rebelled against my law.^y

²Israel cries out to me,

‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’

³But Israel has rejected what is good;

an enemy will pursue him.^z

⁴They set up kings without my consent;

they choose princes without my approval.^a

With their silver and gold

they make idols^b for themselves

to their own destruction.

⁵Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!^c

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of purity?^d

⁶They are from Israel!

This calf—a metalworker has made it;

it is not God.^e

It will be broken in pieces,

that calf^f of Samaria.^g

⁷“They sow the wind

and reap the whirlwind.^h

The stalk has no head;

it will produce no flour.ⁱ

Were it to yield grain,

foreigners would swallow it up.^j

⁸Israel is swallowed up;^k

now she is among the nations

like something no one wants.^l

⁹For they have gone up to Assyria^m

like a wild donkeyⁿ wandering alone.

Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^o

¹⁰Although they have sold themselves among the nations,

I will now gather them together.^p

They will begin to waste away^q

under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,

these have become altars for sinning.^r

¹²I wrote for them the many things of my law,

but they regarded them as something foreign.^s

¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,

and though they eat^t the meat,

the Lord is not pleased with them.^u

Now he will remember^v their wickedness

and punish their sins:^w

They will return to Egypt.^x

¹⁴Israel has forgotten^y their Maker^z

and built palaces;

Judah has fortified many towns.

But I will send fire on their cities

that will consume their fortresses.”^a