Hosea 8

1 He will come into their midst like the land, like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they broke my covenant and acted ungodly against my law.

2 They will cry out to me,

“God, we know you!”

3 Israel turned away from good things; they pursued an enemy.

4 “They made kings for themselves, but not through me. They installed rulers without telling me. From their silver and gold they made images for themselves so that they might be destroyed.

5 Cast away your calf, Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be unable to make themselves clean?

6 In Israel? A craftsman made it; it is not God. Your calf, Samaria, was a deceiver.

7 They sowed blighted seed, and destruction will await them. A sheaf that cannot make flour will come up, and even if it produces any, foreigners will devour it.

8 Israel was swallowed up. Now he has become among the nations like a worthless vessel.

9 They went up to the Assyrians. Ephraim flourished on his own; they loved gifts.

10 Therefore they will be handed over among the nations. Now I will receive them, and for a little while they will stop anointing a king and rulers.

11 Because Ephraim multiplied altars, his beloved altars became sins to him.

12 I will write down for him a multitude of things, and his practices; his beloved altars have been counted as foreign.

13 Even when they sacrifice and eat the meat, the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their wrongdoing and punish their sins. They returned to Egypt, and they will eat unclean things among the Assyrians.

14 Israel forgot the one who made him and built shrines, and Judah multiplied fortified cities. But I will send fire on his cities, and it will devour their foundations.”