Hosea 8

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