Hosea 8

¹Put the trumpet to your lips![#Jl 2:1.]

One like an eagle is over the house of the Lord !

Because they have violated my covenant,

and rebelled against my law,

²They cry out to me,

“My God! We know you!”

³But Israel has rejected what is good;

the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴They made kings, but not by my authority;[#Hosea is not against the monarchy, but against the conspiracies at the royal court (see note on 7:3–7). The king should be chosen by God (1 Kgs 19:15–16).]

they established princes, but without my knowledge.

With their silver and gold

they made idols for themselves,

to their own destruction.

⁵He has rejected your calf, Samaria![#: a cultic object introduced by Jeroboam I after the separation of the Northern Kingdom from the Southern Kingdom (1 Kgs 12:26–30; cf. Ex 32).; #1 Kgs 12:28.]

My wrath is kindled against them;

How long will they be incapable of innocence

in Israel?

⁶An artisan made it,

it is no god at all.

The calf of Samaria

will be dashed to pieces.

⁷When they sow the wind,

they will reap the whirlwind;

The stalk of grain that forms no head

can yield no flour;

Even if it could,

strangers would swallow it.

⁸Israel is swallowed up;

now they are among the nations,

like a useless vessel.

⁹For they went up to Assyria—[#: a reference to the politics of appealing to Assyria (cf. 5:13; 7:11). There is a play on the Hebrew word for “wild ass” ( pere ) and “Ephraim.”]

a wild ass off on its own—

Ephraim bargained for lovers.

¹⁰Even though they bargain with the nations,

I will now gather them together;

They will soon succumb

under the burden of king and princes.

¹¹When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,[#The altars had become places of self-serving worship (cf. v. 13).]

they became altars for sinning.

¹²Though I write for him my many instructions,

they are considered like a stranger’s.

¹³They love sacrifice,

they sacrifice meat and eat it,

but the Lord is not pleased with them.

Now he will remember their guilt

and punish their sins;

they shall return to Egypt.

¹⁴Israel has forgotten his maker[#Dt 32:15, 18; Is 51:13.]

and has built palaces.

Judah, too, has fortified many cities,

but I will send fire upon his cities,

to devour their strongholds.