Israel’s False Hopes

1Put the ram’s horn to your mouth!a

One like an eagle comes

against the house of the Lord,b

because they transgress my covenantc

and rebel against my law.d

2Israel cries out to me,a

“My God, we know you! ”

3Israel has rejected what is good;a

an enemy will pursue him.

4They have installed kings,a

but not through me.

They have appointed leaders,

but without my approval.

They make their silver and goldb

into idols for themselves

for their own destruction.A

5Your calf-idola a is rejected, Samaria.b

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of innocence?c

6For this thing is from Israel —

a craftsman made it,a and it is not God.

The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

7Indeed, they sow the winda

and reap the whirlwind.b

There is no standing grain;

what sprouts fails to yield flour.c

Even if they did,

foreigners would swallow it up.

8Israel is swallowed up!a

Now they are among the nations

like discarded pottery.b

9For they have gone up to Assyriaa

like a wild donkey going off on its own.

Ephraim has paid for love.b

10Even though they hire lovers among the nations,

I will now round them up,

and they will begin to decrease in numbera

under the burden of the king and leaders.b

11When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,a

they became his altars for sinning.

12Though I were to write out for him

ten thousand points of my instruction,a

they would beA regarded as something strange.

13Though they offer sacrificial giftsa a

and eat the flesh,b

the Lord does not accept them.

Now he will remember their guiltc

and punish their sins;d

they will return to Egypt.e

14Israel has forgotten his Makera and built palaces;b

Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.

I will send fire on their cities,c

and it will consume their citadels.