Hosea 8:1-9:9

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.