Israel Rejects the Lord
The Lord said:
8 Sound a warning!
Israel, you broke our agreement
and ignored my teaching.
Now an eagle[a] is swooping down
to attack my land.
2 Israel, you say, “We claim you,
the Lord, as our God.”
3 But your enemies
will chase you for rejecting
our good agreement.[b]
4 You chose kings and leaders
without consulting me;
you made silver and gold idols
that led to your downfall.
5 City of Samaria, I'm angry
because of your idol
in the shape of a calf.
When will you ever
be innocent again?
6 Someone from Israel built
that idol for you,
but only I am God.
And so it will be smashed
to pieces.[c]
7 If you scatter wind
instead of wheat,
you will harvest a whirlwind
and have no wheat.
Even if you harvest grain,
enemies will steal it all.
8 Israel, you are ruined,
and now the nations
consider you worthless.
9 You are like a wild donkey
that goes its own way.
You've run off to Assyria
and hired them as allies.
10 You can bargain with nations,
but I'll catch you anyway.
Soon you will suffer abuse
by kings and rulers.
11 Israel, you have built
many altars where you offer
sacrifices for sin.
But these altars have become
places for sin.
12 My instructions for sacrifices
were written in detail,
but you ignored them.
13 You sacrifice your best animals
and eat the sacrificial meals,[d]
but I, the Lord,
refuse your offerings.
I will remember your sins
and punish you.
Then you will return to Egypt.[e]
14 Israel, I created you,
but you forgot me.
You and Judah built palaces
and many strong cities.[f]
Now I will send fire to destroy
your towns and fortresses.
Footnotes
- 8.1 an eagle: Or “a vulture.”
- 8.3 our good agreement: Or “me, the Good One” (referring to God).
- 8.6 smashed to pieces: Or “destroyed by fire.”
- 8.13 sacrifice … sacrificial meals: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of sacrifices are referred to: Those in which the whole animal is burned on the altar (“whole burnt offerings” in traditional translations) and those in which part is eaten by the worshipers (“fellowship offerings” in traditional translations).
- 8.13 return to Egypt: Either as slaves or to find help against Assyria.
- 8.14 built palaces … cities: They did this because they no longer trusted the Lord to protect them. “Palaces” may also mean “temples.”