For (A)they sow the wind
And they reap the (B)whirlwind.
The standing grain has no [a]heads;
It yields (C)no [b]grain.
Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.

Israel is (D)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a (E)vessel in which no one delights.
For they have gone up to (F)Assyria,
Like (G)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has (H)hired [c]lovers.
10 Even though they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will (I)gather them up;
And they will begin (J)to [d]diminish
Because of the burden of the (K)king of princes.

11 Since Ephraim has (L)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
12 Though (M)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My (N)law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for My (O)sacrificial gifts,
They (P)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will (Q)remember their iniquity,
And (R)punish them for their sins;
They will return to (S)Egypt.
14 For Israel has (T)forgotten his Maker and (U)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a (V)fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 8:7 Lit growth
  2. Hosea 8:7 Or meal
  3. Hosea 8:9 Lit loves
  4. Hosea 8:10 Or suffer for awhile