Hosea 7-8

English Standard Version

7 ^(A)when I would heal Israel,
    the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
    and the evil deeds of ^(B)Samaria,
for ^(C)they deal falsely;
    the thief breaks in,
    and the bandits raid outside.
²But they do not consider
    that ^(D)I remember all their evil.
Now ^(E)their deeds surround them;
    ^(F)they are before my face.
³By their evil ^(G)they make ^(H)the king glad,
    and the princes by their treachery.
⁴^(I)They are all adulterers;
    they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
    from the kneading of the dough
    until it is leavened.
⁵On the day of ^(J)our king, the princes
    became sick with the heat of wine;
    he stretched out his hand with mockers.
⁶For with hearts like an oven ^(K)they approach their intrigue;
    all night their anger smolders;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷All of them are hot as an oven,
    and they devour their rulers.
All ^(L)their kings ^(M)have fallen,
    and none of them calls upon me.

⁸Ephraim ^(N)mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
⁹^(O)Strangers devour his strength,
    and ^(P)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    and ^(Q)he knows it not.
¹⁰^(R)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[a]
    ^(S)yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
    nor seek him, for all this.

¹¹Ephraim is like a dove,
    ^(T)silly and without sense,
    calling to ^(U)Egypt, going to ^(V)Assyria.
¹²As they go, ^(W)I will spread over them my net;
    I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
    ^(X)I will discipline them ^(Y)according to the report made to their congregation.
¹³^(Z)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
^(AA)I would redeem them,
    but ^(AB)they speak lies against me.

¹⁴^(AC)They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but ^(AD)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
¹⁵Although ^(AE)I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
¹⁶They ^(AF)return, but not upward;^[b]
    they are ^(AG)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of ^(AH)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision ^(AI)in the land of Egypt.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

8 Set ^(AJ)the trumpet to your lips!
    One ^(AK)like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because ^(AL)they have transgressed my covenant
    and rebelled against my law.
²To me they cry,
    ^(AM)“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
³Israel has spurned the good;
    the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴^(AN)They made kings, ^(AO)but not through me.
    They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
⁵^(AP)I have^[c] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
^(AQ)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
    it is not God.
^(AR)The calf of Samaria
    ^(AS)shall be broken to pieces.^[d]

⁷For ^(AT)they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    ^(AU)strangers would devour it.
⁸^(AV)Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as ^(AW)a useless vessel.
⁹For ^(AX)they have gone up to Assyria,
    ^(AY)a wild donkey wandering alone;
    Ephraim has hired lovers.
¹⁰Though they hire allies among the nations,
    I will soon gather them up.
And ^(AZ)the king and princes ^(BA)shall soon writhe
    because of the tribute.

¹¹Because Ephraim ^(BB)has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
¹²^(BC)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for my sacrificial offerings,
    ^(BD)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them.
^(BE)Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    ^(BF)they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴For ^(BG)Israel has forgotten ^(BH)his Maker
    and ^(BI)built palaces,
and ^(BJ)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so ^(BK)I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.