⁴ “They chose their own kings, kings I didn’t approve.
    They chose their own princes, princes I didn’t know.
    They chose to make idols with their own silver and gold.
    Because of this, they will be destroyed.
⁵ Get rid of your calf-shaped idol, Samaria.
    My anger burns against these people.
        How long will they remain unclean?^[a]
6 Samaria’s calf-shaped idol was made in Israel.
    Skilled workers made it.
        It is not a god.
        It will be smashed to pieces.

⁷ “The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm.
    A field of grain that doesn’t ripen will never produce any grain.
    Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.
⁸         Israel will be swallowed up.
            It has already mixed in with the other nations.
                It has become worthless.

⁹ “The people of Israel went to Assyria.
    They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone.
    The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.
¹⁰ Even though they sold themselves among the nations,
    I will gather them now.
    They will suffer for a while under the burdens of kings and princes.

¹¹ “The more altars that the people of Ephraim build
    to make offerings to pay for their sins,
        the more places they have for sinning.
¹² I have written many things for them in my teachings,
    but they consider these things strange and foreign.
¹³ They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of sacrifices,
    but I, Yahweh, do not accept these sacrifices.
        Now I will remember their wickedness
            and punish them because of their sins.
                They will go back to Egypt.
¹⁴ The people of Israel have built palaces,
    and they have forgotten their maker.
    The people of Judah have built many fortified cities.
    I will send a fire on their cities and burn down their palaces.”