Hosea 8
1 To thy mouth, with a horn! Like an eagle, on the house of Yahweh, —because they have violated my covenant, and, against my law, have they transgressed.
Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
2 Unto me, shall they make outcry, My God! we acknowledge thee—[we], Israel!
Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
3 Israel hath cast away what is good, —an enemy, shall pursue him.
But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.
4 They, have appointed kings, but not from me, have made rulers, but I have not acknowledged them: of their silver and their gold, they made themselves idols, to the end they might be cut off.
They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
5 He hath cast away thy calf, O Samaria, kindled is mine anger upon them, —How long shall they not endure to be innocent?
He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For, of Israel, is even that thing! A craftsman, made it, and, a No-god, it is! For, into fragments, shall the Calf of Samaria be broken.
For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.
7 For, to the wind, they sow, and, to the whirlwind, they reap: stalk, hath it none, That which shooteth forth, shall yield no meal, If so be it yield, foreigners, swallow it lip,
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Swallowed up, is Israel; Now, have they gone among the nations, like a vessel in which no man taketh, delight.
Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
9 For, they, have gone up to Assyria, A wild ass going alone for himself, is Ephraim! They have hired lovers!
For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Even though they hire them among the nations, at once, will I gather them, when they have begun to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of rulers.
Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars sinfully, they have become to him the altars of sin.
Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
12 I have been wont to write for him the myriad things of my law, —Like something alien, have they been accounted.
Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
13 My sacrificial gifts, have they been sacrificing as [common] flesh, and have eaten, Yahweh, hath not accepted them, —Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, that he may punish their sin, they, to Egypt, will return.
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
14 And so Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath built temples, and, Judah, hath multiplied fortified cities, —Therefore will I send a fire upon his cities, and it shall consume the palaces thereof.
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
