Hosea 8:1-9:9

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.
²Now Israel pleads with me,
    ‘Help us, for you are our God!’
³But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
    and now their enemies will chase after them.
⁴The 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?
⁶This 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.
⁸The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
    they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
⁹Like 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.
¹⁰But 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!
¹²Even though I gave them all my laws,
    they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
¹³The 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.
¹⁴Israel 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.”

Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment

9 O people of Israel,
    do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
    hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
    worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
²So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
    There will be no grapes for making new wine.
³You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
    Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
    that is ceremonially unclean.
⁴There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
    None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
    All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
    but they may not offer it to the Lord.
⁵What then will you do on festival days?
    How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?
⁶Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
    Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis^[b] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
    thistles will invade your ruined homes.

⁷The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
    the day of payment is here.
    Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
    you say, “The prophets are crazy
    and the inspired men are fools!”
⁸The prophet is a watchman over Israel^[c] for my God,
    yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
    He faces hostility even in the house of God.
⁹The things my people do are as depraved
    as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
    He will surely punish them for their sins.

Footnotes

8:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 8:11.
9:6 Memphis was the capital of northern Egypt.
9:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 9:11, 13, 16.