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Hosea 8
New King James Version
Hosea 8
New King James Version
The Apostasy of Israel
8 “Set the [a]trumpet to your mouth!
He shall come (A)like an eagle against the house of the Lord,
Because they have transgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My law.
2 (B)Israel will cry to Me,
‘My God, (C)we know You!’
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
4 “They(D) set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.
5 Your [b]calf [c]is rejected, O Samaria!
My anger is aroused against them—
(E)How long until they attain to innocence?
6 For from Israel is even this:
A (F)workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
7 “They(G) sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
(H)Aliens would swallow it up.
8 (I)Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
(J)Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like (K)a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim (L)has hired lovers.
10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now (M)I will gather them;
And they shall [d]sorrow a little,
Because of the [e]burden of (N)the king of princes.
11 “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.
12 I have written for him (O)the great things of My law,
But they were considered a strange thing.
13 For the sacrifices of My offerings (P)they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
(Q)But the Lord does not accept them.
(R)Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
They shall return to Egypt.
14 “For(S) Israel has forgotten (T)his Maker,
And has built [f]temples;
Judah also has multiplied (U)fortified cities;
But (V)I will send fire upon his cities,
And it shall devour his [g]palaces.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:1 ram’s horn, Heb. shophar
- Hosea 8:5 Golden calf image
- Hosea 8:5 Or has rejected you
- Hosea 8:10 Or begin to diminish
- Hosea 8:10 Or oracle or proclamation
- Hosea 8:14 Or palaces
- Hosea 8:14 Or citadels
Hosea 8
Amplified Bible
Hosea 8
Amplified Bible
Israel Reaps the Whirlwind
8 Set the trumpet to your lips [announcing impending judgment]!
Like a [great] vulture the enemy comes against the house of the Lord,
Because they have broken My covenant
And transgressed and rebelled against My law.
2
Then they will cry out to Me,
“My God, we of Israel know You!”
3
Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy shall pursue him.
4
They set up kings, but not from Me [therefore without My blessing];
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves,
That they might be cut off.
5
He has rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria, saying,
“My wrath burns against them.”
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6
For even this [loathsome calf] is from Israel.
A craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces and go up in flames.
7
For they sow the wind [in evil]
And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster].
The standing grain has no growth;
It yields no grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.
8
Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];
They are now among the nations
Like a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.
9
For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey wandering alone and taking her own way;
Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).
10
Yes, even though [with presents] they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will gather them up;
And [in a little while] they will begin [a]to grow weak and diminish
Because of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].
11
For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;
They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].
12
I wrote for him the ten thousand precepts of My law,
But they are regarded as a strange thing [which does not concern him].
13
As for My sacrificial offerings,
They sacrifice the meat [as a mere formality] and eat it,
But the Lord is not pleased with them and does not accept them.
Now He will remember and take into account their wickedness and guilt,
And punish them for their sins.
They will return [in captivity] to [another] Egypt [that is, Assyria].(A)
14
For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples],
And Judah has built many fortified cities;
But I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palaces and fortresses.(B)
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:10 Lit to be small.
Hosea 8
New International Version
Hosea 8
New International Version
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(A) to your lips!
An eagle(B) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(C)
and rebelled against my law.(D)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(E)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(F)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(G) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(H)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(I)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(J)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(K) of Samaria.(L)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(M)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(N)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(O)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(P)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(Q)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(R)
like a wild donkey(S) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(T)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(U)
They will begin to waste away(V)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(W)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(X)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(Y) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(Z)
Now he will remember(AA) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(AB)
They will return to Egypt.(AC)
14 Israel has forgotten(AD) their Maker(AE)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(AF)
Hosea 8
The Message
Hosea 8
The Message
Altars for Sinning
8 1-3 “Blow the trumpet! Sound the alarm!
Vultures are circling over God’s people
Who have broken my covenant
and defied my revelation.
Predictably, Israel cries out, ‘My God! We know you!’
But they don’t act like it.
Israel will have nothing to do with what’s good,
and now the enemy is after them.
4-10 “They crown kings, but without asking me.
They set up princes but don’t let me in on it.
Instead, they make idols, using silver and gold,
idols that will be their ruin.
Throw that gold calf-god on the trash heap, Samaria!
I’m seething with anger against that rubbish!
How long before they shape up?
And they’re Israelites!
A sculptor made that thing—
it’s not God.
That Samaritan calf
will be broken to bits.
Look at them! Planting wind-seeds,
they’ll harvest tornadoes.
Wheat with no head
produces no flour.
And even if it did,
strangers would gulp it down.
Israel is swallowed up and spit out.
Among the pagans they’re a piece of junk.
They trotted off to Assyria:
Why, even wild donkeys stick to their own kind,
but donkey-Ephraim goes out and pays to get lovers.
Now, because of their whoring life among the pagans,
I’m going to gather them together and confront them.
They’re going to reap the consequences soon,
feel what it’s like to be oppressed by the big king.
11-14 “Ephraim has built a lot of altars,
and then uses them for sinning.
Can you believe it? Altars for sinning!
I write out my revelation for them in detail
and they pretend they can’t read it.
They offer sacrifices to me
and then they feast on the meat.
God is not pleased!
I’m fed up—I’ll keep remembering their guilt.
I’ll punish their sins
and send them back to Egypt.
Israel has forgotten his Maker
and gotten busy making palaces.
Judah has gone in for a lot of fortress cities.
I’m sending fire on their cities
to burn down their fortifications.”
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson