Hosea 8:1-9:9

New International Version

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

8 “Put the trumpet^(A) to your lips!
    An eagle^(B) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant^(C)
    and rebelled against my law.^(D)
²Israel cries out to me,
    ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
³But Israel has rejected what is good;
    an enemy will pursue him.^(E)
⁴They set up kings without my consent;
    they choose princes without my approval.^(F)
With their silver and gold
    they make idols^(G) for themselves
    to their own destruction.
⁵Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!^(H)
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?^(I)
⁶    They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.^(J)
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf^(K) of Samaria.^(L)

⁷“They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(M)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(N)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(O)
⁸Israel is swallowed up;^(P)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(Q)
⁹For they have gone up to Assyria^(R)
    like a wild donkey^(S) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(T)
¹⁰Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(U)
They will begin to waste away^(V)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.^(W)
¹²I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.^(X)
¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat^(Y) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.^(Z)
Now he will remember^(AA) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:^(AB)
    They will return to Egypt.^(AC)
¹⁴Israel has forgotten^(AD) their Maker^(AE)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”^(AF)

Punishment for Israel

9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant^(AG) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful^(AH) to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute^(AI)
    at every threshing floor.
²Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine^(AJ) will fail them.
³They will not remain^(AK) in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt^(AL)
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.^(AM)
⁴They will not pour out wine offerings^(AN) to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please^(AO) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;^(AP)
    all who eat them will be unclean.^(AQ)
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.^(AR)

⁵What will you do^(AS) on the day of your appointed festivals,^(AT)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
⁶Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,^(AU)
    and Memphis^(AV) will bury them.^(AW)
Their treasures of silver^(AX) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns^(AY) will overrun their tents.
⁷The days of punishment^(AZ) are coming,
    the days of reckoning^(BA) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins^(BB) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,^(BC)
    the inspired person a maniac.^(BD)
⁸The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,^[a]
yet snares^(BE) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.^(BF)
⁹They have sunk deep into corruption,^(BG)
    as in the days of Gibeah.^(BH)
God will remember^(BI) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.^(BJ)