HOSEA 8 [†] Set  e the trumpet to your lips!

One  f like a vulture is over the house of the LORD,

because  g they have transgressed my covenant

and rebelled against my law.

2[†] To me they cry,

 h “My God, we—Israel—know you.”

3[†] Israel has spurned the good;

the enemy shall pursue him.

4[†]  i They made kings,  j but not through me.

They set up princes, but I knew it not.

With their silver and gold they made idols

for their own destruction.

5[†]  k I have [1] spurned your calf, O Samaria.

My anger burns against them.

 l How long will they be incapable of innocence?

6 For it is from Israel;

a craftsman made it;

it is not God.

 k The calf of Samaria

 m shall be broken to pieces. [2]

7[†] For  n they sow the wind,

and they shall reap the whirlwind.

The standing grain has no heads;

it shall yield no flour;

if it were to yield,

 o strangers would devour it.

8  p Israel is swallowed up;

already they are among the nations

as  q a useless vessel.

9 For  r they have gone up to Assyria,

 s a wild donkey wandering alone;

Ephraim has hired lovers.

10[†] Though they hire allies among the nations,

I will soon gather them up.

And  t the king and princes  u shall soon writhe

because of the tribute.

11 Because Ephraim  v has multiplied altars for sinning,

they have become to him altars for sinning.

12  w Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,

they would be regarded as a strange thing.

13[^] As for my sacrificial offerings,

 x they sacrifice meat and eat it,

but the LORD does not accept them.

 y Now he will remember their iniquity

and punish their sins;

 z they shall return to Egypt.

14[†] For  a Israel has forgotten  b his Maker

and  c built palaces,

and  a Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

so  d I will send a fire upon his cities,

and it shall devour her strongholds.