Hosea 8:2-1953 kjv — Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him…

“They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee. Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth. For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes. Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning. I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing. As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the castles thereof. ”

“They cry to me, 'My God, we Israel acknowledge you!' Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn't approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off. Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity? For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing. For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself. But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones. Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning. I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing. As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn't accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt. For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses."”

“Israel cries out to me,“My God, we acknowledge you!” But Israel has rejected what is morally good; so an enemy will pursue him. The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel They enthroned kings without my consent! They appointed princes without my approval! They made idols out of their silver and gold, but they will be destroyed! O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites! That idol was made by a workman– it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits. The Fertility Cultists Will Become Infertile They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! The stalk does not have any standing grain; it will not produce any flour. Even if it were to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it all up. Israel will be swallowed up among the nations; they will be like a worthless piece of pottery. Israel’s Hired Lovers They have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey that wanders off. Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, I will soon gather them together for judgment. Then they will begin to waste away under the oppression of a mighty king. Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning! I spelled out my law for him in great detail, but they regard it as something totally unknown to them! They offer up sacrificial gifts to me, and eat the meat, but the LORD does not accept their sacrifices. Soon he will remember their wrongdoing, he will punish their sins, and they will return to Egypt. Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces, and Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send fire on their cities; it will consume their royal citadels.”

“They shall call upon me: O my God, we, Israel, know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him. They have reigned, but not by me: they have been princes, and I knew not: of their silver and their gold they have made idols to themselves, that they might perish. Thy calf, O Samaria, is cast off, my wrath is kindled against them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed? For itself also is the invention of Israel: a workman made it, and it is no god: for the calf of Samaria shall be turned to spiders' webs. For they shall sow wind, and reap a whirlwind, there is no standing stalk in it, the bud shall yield no meal; and if it should yield, strangers shall eat it. Israel is swallowed up: now is he become among the nations like an unclean vessel. For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers. But even though they shall have hired the nations, now will I gather them together: and they shall rest a while from the burden of the king, and the princes. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin: altars are become to him unto sin. I shall write to him my manifold laws, which have been accounted as foreign. They shall offer victims, they shall sacrifice flesh, and shall eat it, and the Lord will not receive them: now will he remember their iniquity, and will visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. And Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath built temples: and Juda hath built many fenced cities: and I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the houses thereof. ”

“They will send up to me a cry for help: We, Israel, have knowledge of you, O God of Israel. Israel has given up what is good; his haters will go after him. They have put up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, but I had no knowledge of it; they have made images of silver and gold, so that they may be cut off. I will have nothing to do with your young ox, O Samaria; my wrath is burning against them; how long will it be before the children of Israel make themselves clean? The workman made it, it is no god; the ox of Samaria will be broken into bits. For they have been planting the wind, and their fruit will be the storm; his grain has no stem, it will give no meal, and if it does, a strange nation will take it. Israel has come to destruction; now they are among the nations like a cup in which there is no pleasure. For they have gone up to Assyria like an ass going by himself; Ephraim has given money to get lovers. But though they give money to the nations for help, still I will send them in all directions; and in a short time they will be without a king and rulers. Because Ephraim has been increasing altars for sin, altars have become a cause of sin to him. Though I put my law in writing for him in ten thousand rules, they are to him as a strange thing. He gives the offerings of his lovers, and takes the flesh for food; but the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep in mind their evil-doing and give them the punishment of their sins; they will go back to Egypt. For Israel has no memory of his Maker, and has put up the houses of kings; and Judah has made great the number of his walled towns. But I will send a fire on his towns and put an end to his great houses.”

“Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the Lord accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. ”