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Israel Has Trusted Wrong Things

“Put the trumpet to your lips [C to warn of danger or call to battle]!
    The enemy ·swoops down on [or circles over] the Lord’s ·people [or temple; L house] like an eagle.
The Israelites have broken my ·agreement [covenant; treaty]
    and have ·turned [rebelled] against my ·teachings [law; L Torah].
Israel cries out to me,
    ‘Our God, we in Israel ·know [acknowledge] you!’
But Israel has rejected what is good,
    so the enemy will ·chase [pursue] them.
They ·chose their own [appointed; enthroned] kings
    ·without asking my permission [L but not from me].
They chose their own ·leaders [princes],
    people I did not ·know [acknowledge; approve].
They made their silver and gold into idols,
    and for all this they will be destroyed.
I ·hate [have rejected] ·the calf-shaped idol of Israel [L your calf, Samaria; Ex. 32; 1 Kin. 12:26–30]!
    ·I am very angry with the people [L My anger burns against them].
How long will they remain ·unclean [impure; guilty]?
The idol is something a craftsman made;
    it is not God.
·Israel’s calf-shaped idol [L The calf of Samaria; v. 5]
    will surely be smashed to pieces.

“·Israel’s foolish plans are like planting the wind [L They sow the wind],
    ·but they will harvest a storm [L and reap the whirlwind].
Like a stalk with no head of grain,
    it produces ·nothing [L no flour].
Even if it produced something,
    ·other nations [foreigners] would ·eat [devour] it.
Israel is ·eaten [swallowed] up;
    the people are ·mixed among [L among] the other nations
    and have become ·useless to me [a useless pot/utensil/vessel].
Israel is like a wild donkey ·all by itself [wandering alone].
    They have ·run [L gone up] to Assyria;
    ·They have hired other nations to protect them [L Ephraim has hired lovers; or Ephraim has sold herself to lovers].
10 Although Israel ·is mixed [or hired; or hired herself out] among the nations,
    I will gather them together.
They will ·become weaker and weaker [begin to waste away]
    ·as they suffer under [from the burden/oppression of] the ·great king of Assyria [L king of princes].

11 “Although ·Israel [L Ephraim; 4:17] built more altars to remove sin,
    they have become altars for sinning.
12 I have written many ·teachings [laws; instructions] for them,
    but they think the teachings are ·strange and foreign [alien; irrelevant].
13 The Israelites offer sacrifices to me as gifts
    and eat the meat,
but the Lord ·is not pleased with [does not accept] them.
    He remembers ·the evil they have done [their wickedness/iniquity],
and he will punish them for their sins.
    They will ·be slaves again as they were in [L return to] Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and has built palaces;
    Judah has built many ·strong, walled [fortified] cities.
But I will send fire on their cities
    and ·destroy [L it will devour/consume] their ·strong buildings [strongholds; citadels].”

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