Hosea 8:5-7
The Voice
5 I reject your calf, Samaria! My anger is kindled against them.
How long will they be unable to do what’s right?
6 This idol is from Israel.
A craftsman made it; it’s not God!
Samaria’s calf will be smashed to pieces.
Israel’s harlotry is practiced not only by diplomatic accords with other nations but also by worship of their gods who serve as witnesses to these alliances. Here an idol is fabricated and worshiped by God’s own people. As their ancestors did in the wilderness while Moses was on the mountain with God, they make an image of a calf. They turn from the True God to worship their own creation, a crude imitation of God’s creation. The anger of the Lord is again aroused as it was in the wilderness, and He will crush both the idol and the idol worshipers.
7 Eternal One: Then these proverbs will come true:
“Because they sow the wind, they’ll reap the whirlwind.”
“A shoot without a grain head doesn’t make any flour.”
“If the shoot does produce, foreigners will devour it!”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
