Hosea 8
1 [Yahweh said to me], “Blow [MTY] your trumpet [to warn the people]! My people have rejected the agreement that I made with them, and they have rebelled against [obeying] my laws. Therefore, [their enemies] are swooping down on my people’s country like [SIM] an eagle.
Put the horn to your mouth! An eagle swoops down upon the house of the Lord because they have transgressed my covenant, trespassed against my law.
2 My Israeli people cry out to me, ‘Our God, we know that you are our God!’
To me they continually cry, ‘My God, we Israel, we know you!’
3 But because the Israeli people have rejected what is good, their enemies will pursue them.
But Israel has spurned that which is good, so let the foe pursue him.
4 The Israel people appointed [their last three] kings, but they did not ask me if I agreed to [what they were doing]. They chose their own leaders without asking if I would approve of them. They used their own silver and gold to make for themselves idols, and doing that led them to be destroyed.
They themselves have made kings but without my consent. They have made princes but without my knowledge. Out of their silver and gold, they have made idols to their destruction!
5 You people of Samaria, throw away your [idol that resembles a] calf! I am extremely angry with you people! How long [RHQ] will you [do things that cause] you to be unacceptable to me?
Your calf idol, O Samaria, is distasteful. My anger is kindled against them. How long will they escape punishment?
6 [Someone in] Israel made that idol for you; [but I am] God and it is not. So that idol of a calf in Samaria must be smashed to pieces.
Israel made the thing: a workman made it. It is not a god! Samaria’s calf will become mere splinters.
7 [The foolish thing that the people of Israel have done is like] [MET] trying to plant wind; but what they harvest will be like [MET] a whirlwind. So the grain that they planted will have no heads [on the stalks], and as a result [there will be no grain] from which to make flour. And if it did produce good grain, foreigners would [come and] steal it.
They sow the wind and will reap the whirlwind. A shoot which has no stalk, yields no fruit If it should yield, strangers would devour it.
8 [The people of] Israel will be defeated [MET] [by their enemies]; they will be [scattered] among other nations and become worthless.
Israel is devoured. Already it lies discarded among the nations like a worthless pot.
9 Like [MET] donkeys that are looking for mates, they have requested [help] from Assyria; they paid money to [the leaders of Assyria] in order to [persuade those leaders to] protect them.
For by themselves they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey which wanders by itself. Ephraim pays for love
10 But although they have agreed to pay money each year to [the leaders of] those countries, I will soon gather them together [to punish them]. The great King [of Assyria] will cause them to suffer greatly.
but even if they sell themselves among the nations, I will round them up. Soon the kings and princes will writhe under the burden of tribute!
11 Although [the people of] Israel built many altars to present offerings [to their idols] to take away [their guilt for] sinning, those altars have become places where they commit [more] sins.
For as many altars as Ephraim has erected, they are to him altars for sinning,
12 I wrote many laws for them, but they disregarded them, saying that [they did not have to obey them because] they were different from laws that they had known previously.
were I to write for him ever so many instructions, they would be regarded as from a stranger.
13 They offer sacrifices to me, and they eat [some of] the meat of those sacrifices, [which is what I permitted them to do]. But I, Yahweh, am not pleased with those sacrifices. I remember the evil things that they have done, and I will punish them for the sins that they have committed: I will force them to [go to other countries] [and become slaves like they were] [MET] in Egypt.
The people love sacrifice, and so they offer sacrifices, meat, and so they eat it, although the Lord is not pleased with them, so now he will remember their guilt, and punish their sins. Back to Egypt with them!
14 [The people of] Israel have abandoned/forgotten me, the one who created their [nation]; they have built palaces, and [the people of] Judah have built walls around many towns. But I will send a fire that will destroy all their cities and their fortresses.”
For Israel forgot his Maker and built palaces, and Judah multiplied fortified cities. But I will send fire upon her cities, and it will devour her strongholds.
