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Hosea 8
The Voice
Hosea 8
The Voice
8 Eternal One: Blow the ram’s horn to sound the alarm!
The eagle of Assyria is hovering above My house,[a]
Waiting for My instruction to snatch its prey,
because they’ve broken My covenant and rebelled against My law.
2 Still Israel calls out to Me, “Our God, we know you!”
But even with your words of worship, you abandon our agreement.
3 Israel has rejected what is good; that is why an enemy will pursue him.
4 They’ve overstepped their rights by changing leadership, but not by My authority;
they’ve anointed kings and appointed princes without consulting Me.
They’ve made idols out of their silver and gold,
so Israel will be destroyed.
5 I reject your calf, Samaria! My anger is kindled against them.
How long will they be unable to do what’s right?
6 This idol is from Israel.
A craftsman made it; it’s not God!
Samaria’s calf will be smashed to pieces.
Israel’s harlotry is practiced not only by diplomatic accords with other nations but also by worship of their gods who serve as witnesses to these alliances. Here an idol is fabricated and worshiped by God’s own people. As their ancestors did in the wilderness while Moses was on the mountain with God, they make an image of a calf. They turn from the True God to worship their own creation, a crude imitation of God’s creation. The anger of the Lord is again aroused as it was in the wilderness, and He will crush both the idol and the idol worshipers.
7 Eternal One: Then these proverbs will come true:
“Because they sow the wind, they’ll reap the whirlwind.”
“A shoot without a grain head doesn’t make any flour.”
“If the shoot does produce, foreigners will devour it!”
8 Israel has been devoured by that eagle and strewn among the nations.
Now it’s like a discarded pot, valuable to no one.
9 All alone like a wild donkey, Ephraim went up to Assyria
and had to hire her own lovers!
10 But because they paid tribute money to other nations instead of depending on Me,
I’m going to gather them up and send them into exile,
And they will struggle for a time
beneath the burden imposed by the great king of princes.[b]
11 Even though Ephraim built many altars to cover sin,
they’ve all become places where he commits sin!
12 It wouldn’t matter how many copies of My law I wrote for him;
he’d treat them all as something strange and foreign.
13 No matter how many sacrifices they offer,
no matter how many sacred meals they eat,
I am not pleased with them.
I’ll remember their guilt and punish their sins:
they’ll return to slavery in Egypt!
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
Judah has built many walled cities.
But I’ll send fire on those cities,
and My righteous wrath will burn up those citadels.
Hosea 8
New International Version
Hosea 8
New International Version
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(A) to your lips!
An eagle(B) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(C)
and rebelled against my law.(D)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(E)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(F)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(G) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(H)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(I)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(J)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(K) of Samaria.(L)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(M)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(N)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(O)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(P)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(Q)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(R)
like a wild donkey(S) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(T)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(U)
They will begin to waste away(V)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(W)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(X)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(Y) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(Z)
Now he will remember(AA) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(AB)
They will return to Egypt.(AC)
14 Israel has forgotten(AD) their Maker(AE)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(AF)
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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