Hosea 8

English Standard Version

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

8 Set ^(A)the trumpet to your lips!
    One ^(B)like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because ^(C)they have transgressed my covenant
    and rebelled against my law.
²To me they cry,
    ^(D)“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
³Israel has spurned the good;
    the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴^(E)They made kings, ^(F)but not through me.
    They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
⁵^(G)I have^[a] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
^(H)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
    it is not God.
^(I)The calf of Samaria
    ^(J)shall be broken to pieces.^[b]

⁷For ^(K)they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    ^(L)strangers would devour it.
⁸^(M)Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as ^(N)a useless vessel.
⁹For ^(O)they have gone up to Assyria,
    ^(P)a wild donkey wandering alone;
    Ephraim has hired lovers.
¹⁰Though they hire allies among the nations,
    I will soon gather them up.
And ^(Q)the king and princes ^(R)shall soon writhe
    because of the tribute.

¹¹Because Ephraim ^(S)has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
¹²^(T)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for my sacrificial offerings,
    ^(U)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them.
^(V)Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    ^(W)they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴For ^(X)Israel has forgotten ^(Y)his Maker
    and ^(Z)built palaces,
and ^(AA)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so ^(AB)I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.