4“They set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.
5Your [b]calf [c]is rejected, O Samaria!
My anger is aroused against them—
How long until they attain to innocence?
6For from Israel is even this:
A workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

7“They sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
Aliens would swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
9For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now I will gather them;
And they shall [d]sorrow a little,
Because of the [e]burden of the king of princes.

11“Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.
12I have written for him the great things of My law,
But they were considered a strange thing.
13For the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
But the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
They shall return to Egypt.

14“For Israel has forgotten his Maker,
And has built [f]temples;
Judah also has multiplied fortified cities;
But I will send fire upon his cities,
And it shall devour his [g]palaces.”