Hosea 8

New American Standard Bible

Israel Reaps the Whirlwind

8 ^(A)Put the trumpet to your ^[a]lips!
^(B)Like an eagle the enemy comes ^(C)against the house of the Lord,
Because they have ^(D)violated My covenant
And rebelled against My ^(E)Law.
²^(F)They cry out to Me,
“My God, ^(G)we of Israel know You!”
³Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
⁴^(H)They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed officials, but I did not know it.
With their ^(I)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
So that ^[b]they will be eliminated.
⁵^[c]He has rejected your ^(J)calf, Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of ^(K)innocence?
⁶For from Israel comes even this!
A ^(L)craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to ^[d]pieces.
⁷For ^(M)they sow wind
And they harvest a ^(N)storm.
The standing grain has no ^[e]kernels;
It yields ^(O)no ^[f]grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

⁸Israel has been ^(P)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a ^(Q)vessel in which no one delights.
⁹For they have gone up to ^(R)Assyria,
Like ^(S)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has ^(T)paid fees for ^[g]lovers.
¹⁰Even though they ^[h]pay for allies among the nations,
I will ^(U)gather them up now;
And they will begin ^(V)to diminish
Because of the burden of the ^(W)king of officials.

¹¹Since Ephraim has ^(X)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
¹²Though ^(Y)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My ^(Z)Law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for My ^(AA)sacrificial gifts,
They ^(AB)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will ^(AC)remember their guilt,
And ^(AD)punish them for their sins;
They will return to ^(AE)Egypt.
¹⁴For Israel has ^(AF)forgotten his Maker and ^(AG)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a ^(AH)fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.