Hosea 8:1-10:12

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind 1“Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.

2Israel cries out to me, ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’

3But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.

4They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.

5Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?

6They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.

7“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

8Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like something no one wants.

9For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.

10Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.

11“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.

12I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something foreign.

13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. 14Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire on their cities that will consume their fortresses.”

Punishment for Israel 1Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.

2Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.

3They will not remain in the LORD ’s land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.

4They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD .

5What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the LORD ?

6Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents.

7The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac.

8The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.

9They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.

10“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.

11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

12Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them!

13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.”

14Give them, LORD — what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.

15“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.

16Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.” 17My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.

1Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.

2Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.

3Then they will say, “We have no king because we did not revere the LORD . But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?”

4They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

5The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God). Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.

6It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.

7Samaria’s king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.

8The high places of wickedness Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5. will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9“Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Or there a stand was taken Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

10When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.

11Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground.

12Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.