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.
| אל חכך שפר כנשר על בית יהוה יען עברו בריתי ועל תורתי פשעו׃ |
2 My Israeli people cry out to me, ‘Our God, we know that you are our God!’
| לי יזעקו אלהי ידענוך ישראל׃ |
3 But because the Israeli people have rejected what is good, their enemies will pursue them.
| זנח ישראל טוב אויב ירדפו׃ |
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.
| הם המליכו ולא ממני השירו ולא ידעתי כספם וזהבם עשו להם עצבים למען יכרת׃ |
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?
| זנח עגלך שמרון חרה אפי בם עד מתי לא יוכלו נקין׃ |
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.
| כי מישראל והוא חרש עשהו ולא אלהים הוא כי שבבים יהיה עגל שמרון׃ |
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.
| כי רוח יזרעו וסופתה יקצרו קמה אין לו צמח בלי יעשה קמח אולי יעשה זרים יבלעהו׃ |
8 [The people of] Israel will be defeated [MET] [by their enemies]; they will be [scattered] among other nations and become worthless.
| נבלע ישראל עתה היו בגוים ככלי אין חפץ בו׃ |
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.
| כי המה עלו אשור פרא בודד לו אפרים התנו אהבים׃ |
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.
| גם כי יתנו בגוים עתה אקבצם ויחלו מעט ממשא מלך שרים׃ |
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.
| כי הרבה אפרים מזבחת לחטא היו לו מזבחות לחטא׃ |
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.
| אכתוב לו רבו תורתי כמו זר נחשבו׃ |
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.
| זבחי הבהבי יזבחו בשר ויאכלו יהוה לא רצם עתה יזכר עונם ויפקד חטאותם המה מצרים ישובו׃ |
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.”
| וישכח ישראל את עשהו ויבן היכלות ויהודה הרבה ערים בצרות ושלחתי אש בעריו ואכלה ארמנתיה׃ |
