Hosea 8

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

⁴ They made kings, but not through me;
    they set up princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
⁵ Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶     For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
    it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
    shall be broken to pieces.^[b]

⁷ For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads,
    it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
    foreigners would devour it.
⁸ Israel is swallowed up;
    now they are among the nations
    as a useless vessel.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria,
    a wild ass wandering alone;
    Ephraim has bargained for lovers.
¹⁰ Though they bargain with the nations,
    I will now gather them up.
They shall soon writhe
    under the burden of kings and princes.

¹¹ When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,
    they became to him altars for sinning.
¹² Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,
    they are regarded as a strange thing.
¹³ Though they offer choice sacrifices,^[c]
    though they eat flesh,
    the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
    and punish their sins;
    they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker,
    and built palaces;
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    but I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour his strongholds.