Hosea 8

¹Set the trumpet to your lips ! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law .

²To me they cry , My God , we— Israel — know you.

³Israel has spurned the good ; the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴They made kings , 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 .

⁵I have spurned your calf , O Samaria . My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence ?

⁶For it is from Israel ; a craftsman made it; it is not God . The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces .

⁷For 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 , strangers would devour it.

⁸Israel is swallowed up ; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel .

⁹For they have gone up to Assyria , a wild donkey wandering alone ; Ephraim has hired lovers .

¹⁰Though they hire allies among the nations , I will soon gather them up. And the king and princes shall soon writhe because of the tribute .

¹¹Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning , they have become to him altars for sinning .

¹²Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands , they would be regarded as a strange thing.

¹³As for my sacrificial offerings , they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins ; they shall return to Egypt .

¹⁴For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces , and Judah has multiplied fortified cities ; so I will send a fire upon his cities , and it shall devour her strongholds .