Hosea 8:1-10 ▼

1 Set the trumpet to your lips [announcing impending judgment]! Like a [great] vulture the enemy comes against the house of the LORD, Because they have broken My covenant And transgressed and rebelled against My law.

2 Then they will cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know You!”

3 Israel has rejected the good; The enemy shall pursue him.

4 They set up kings, but not from Me [therefore without My blessing]; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it. With their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off.

5 He has rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria, saying, “My wrath burns against them.” How long will they be incapable of innocence?

6 For even this [loathsome calf] is from Israel. A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces and go up in flames.

7 For they sow the wind [in evil] And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster]. The standing grain has no growth; It yields no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.

8 Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies]; They are now among the nations Like a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.

9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey wandering alone and taking her own way; Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).

10 Yes, even though [with presents] they hire allies among the nations, Now I will gather them up; And [in a little while] they will begin to grow weak and diminish Because of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].