Hosea 8

1. “Put the shofar to your lips! 1 Like a vulture [he swoops down] on the house of Adonai, 1 because they have violated my covenant 1 and sinned intentionally against my Torah.

2. Will they cry out to me, 2 ‘We are Isra’el, God, we know you’?

3. Isra’el has thrown away what is good; 3 the enemy will pursue him.

4. They make kings, but without my authority; 4 they appoint leaders, but without my knowledge. 4 With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, 4 but these can lead only to their own destruction.

5. Your calf, Shomron, has been thrown away; 5 my fury burns against them. 5 How long will it be until they are able 5 to make themselves clean?

6. Here is what Isra’el produces: 6 a craftsman makes something — it’s a non-god; 6 the calf of Shomron will be broken to pieces.

7. For they sow the wind, 7 so they will reap the whirlwind. 7 The standing grain has no ears, 7 so it will yield no flour; 7 and if it does yield any, 7 foreigners will swallow it up.

8. Isra’el is swallowed up; 8 now they are among the Goyim 8 like a vessel nobody wants.

9. For they have gone up to Ashur; 9 like a wild donkey, alone by itself, 9 Efrayim has bargained for lovers.

10. But even if they bargain among the Goyim, 10 now I will round them up. 10 Soon they will start to feel the burden 10 of these kings and leaders.

11. For Efrayim keeps building altars for sin; 11 yes, altars are sinful for him.

12. I write him so many things from my Torah, 12 yet he considers them foreign.

13. They offer me sacrifices of flesh and eat them, 13 but Adonai does not accept them. 13 Now he will recall their crimes and punish their sins — 13 they will return to Egypt.

14. For Isra’el forgot his maker and built palaces; 14 and Y’hudah made more fortified cities; 14 but I will send fire on his cities, 14 and it will consume their strongholds.”