Hosea 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s False Hopes
8 Put the horn to your mouth!(A)
One like an eagle comes
against the house of the Lord,(B)
because they transgress My covenant(C)
and rebel against My law.(D)
2 Israel cries out to Me,(E)
“My God, we know You!”
3 Israel has rejected what is good;(F)
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They have installed kings,(G)
but not through Me.
They have appointed leaders,
but without My approval.
They make their silver and gold(H)
into idols for themselves
for their own destruction.[a]
5 Your calf-idol[b](I) is rejected, Samaria.(J)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?(K)
6 For this thing is from Israel—
a craftsman made it,(L) and it is not God.
The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!
7 Indeed, they sow the wind(M)
and reap the whirlwind.(N)
There is no standing grain;
what sprouts fails to yield flour.(O)
Even if they did,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up!(P)
Now they are among the nations
like discarded pottery.(Q)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(R)
like a wild donkey going off on its own.
Ephraim has paid for love.(S)
10 Even though they hire lovers among the nations,
I will now round them up,
and they will begin to decrease in number(T)
under the burden of the king and leaders.(U)
11 When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,(V)
they became his altars for sinning.
12 Though I were to write out for him
ten thousand points of My instruction,(W)
they would be[c] regarded as something strange.
13 Though they offer sacrificial gifts[d](X)
and eat the flesh,(Y)
the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their guilt(Z)
and punish their sins;(AA)
they will return to Egypt.(AB)
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker(AC) and built palaces;(AD)
Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.
I will send fire on their cities,(AE)
and it will consume their citadels.
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:4 Lit themselves that it might be cut off
- Hosea 8:5 Lit calf
- Hosea 8:12 Or Though I wrote out . . . instruction, they are
- Hosea 8:13 Hb obscure
Hosea 8
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.
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