Hosea 8
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Israel’s Apostasy
8 Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture[a] is over the house of the Lord,
because they have broken my covenant,
and transgressed my law.
2 Israel cries to me,
“My God, we—Israel—know you!”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
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.
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:1 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- Hosea 8:6 Or shall go up in flames
- Hosea 8:13 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
Hosea 8
Authorized (King James) Version
8 Set the trumpet to thy mouth.
He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord,
because they have transgressed my covenant,
and trespassed against my law.
2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good:
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They have set up kings, but not by me:
they have made princes, and I knew it not:
of their silver and their gold have they made them idols,
that they may be cut off.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off;
mine anger is kindled against them:
how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6 For from Israel was it also:
the workman made it; therefore it is not God:
but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7 For they have sown the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind:
it hath no stalk:
the bud shall yield no meal:
if so be it yield,
the strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up:
now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass alone by himself:
Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations,
now will I gather them,
and they shall sorrow a little
for the burden of the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin,
altars shall be unto him to sin.
12 I have written to him the great things of my law,
but they were counted as a strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it;
but the Lord accepteth them not;
now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins:
they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples;
and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities:
but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Hosea 8
New English Translation
God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel
8 Sound the alarm![a]
An eagle[b] looms over the temple of the Lord!
For they have broken their covenant with me[c]
and have rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“My God, we acknowledge you!”
3 But Israel has rejected what is morally good;
so an enemy will pursue him.
The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel
4 They enthroned kings without my consent.[d]
They appointed princes without my approval.[e]
They made idols out of their silver and gold,
but they will be destroyed![f]
5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol.
My anger burns against them!
They will not survive much longer without being punished,[g]
even though they are Israelites!
6 That idol was made by a workman—it is not God!
The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
The Fertility Cultists Will Become Infertile
7 They sow the wind,
and so they will reap the whirlwind!
The stalk does not have any standing grain;
it will not produce any flour.
Even if it were to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it all up.
8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;
they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.
Israel’s Hired Lovers
9 They have gone up to Assyria,
like a wild donkey that wanders off.
Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.[h]
10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations,[i]
I will soon gather them together for judgment.[j]
Then[k] they will begin to waste away
under the oppression of a mighty king.[l]
Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience
11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,
but they regard it as something totally unknown[m] to them.
13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me
and eat the meat,
but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices.[n]
Soon he will remember their wrongdoing,
he will punish their sins,
and they will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces,
and Judah has built many fortified cities.
But I will send fire on their cities;
it will consume their royal citadels.
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:1 tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; cf. NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”
- Hosea 8:1 tn Or perhaps: “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).
- Hosea 8:1 tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); cf. TEV “the covenant I made with them.”
- Hosea 8:4 tn Heb “but without me”; cf. NCV “without asking my permission,” and CEV “without consulting me.”
- Hosea 8:4 tn Heb “but I did not know”; cf. NRSV “but without my knowledge.”
- Hosea 8:4 tn Heb “in order to be cut off.” The text gives the impression that they made the idols for this purpose, but the language is ironic and sarcastic, bringing out the futility of their efforts. One could paraphrase, “they made idols…but only so that they might be destroyed.” Though they had other plans for the idols, God’s judgment would bring their intentions to naught.
- Hosea 8:5 tn Heb “How long will they be able to be free from punishment?” This rhetorical question affirms that Israel will not survive much longer until God punishes it.
- Hosea 8:9 tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”
- Hosea 8:10 tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”
- Hosea 8:10 tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment; see the parallel in 9:6).
- Hosea 8:10 tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite third person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”
- Hosea 8:10 tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); cf. TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”
- Hosea 8:12 tn Heb “foreign” or “alien”; cf. NASB, NRSV “as a strange thing.”
- Hosea 8:13 tn Heb “does not accept them”; the referent (their sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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