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 Living Translation
Israel Harvests the Whirlwind
8 “Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
2 Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
3 But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
4 The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction.
5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf—
this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapable of innocence?
6 This calf you worship, O Israel,
was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7 “They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel[a] have sold themselves—
sold themselves to many lovers.
10 But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
under the burden of the great king.
11 “Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
12 Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
13 The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses.”
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
