Israel Has Trusted Wrong Things
8 “Put the trumpet to your lips [C to warn of danger or call to battle]!
The enemy ·swoops down on [or circles over] the Lord’s ·people [or temple; L house] like an eagle.
The Israelites have broken my ·agreement [covenant; treaty]
and have ·turned [rebelled] against my ·teachings [law; L Torah].
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we in Israel ·know [acknowledge] you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good,
so the enemy will ·chase [pursue] them.
4 They ·chose their own [appointed; enthroned] kings
·without asking my permission [L but not from me].
They chose their own ·leaders [princes],
people I did not ·know [acknowledge; approve].
They made their silver and gold into idols,
and for all this they will be destroyed.
5 I ·hate [have rejected] ·the calf-shaped idol of Israel [L your calf, Samaria; Ex. 32; 1 Kin. 12:26–30]!
·I am very angry with the people [L My anger burns against them].
How long will they remain ·unclean [impure; guilty]?
6 The idol is something a craftsman made;
it is not God.
·Israel’s calf-shaped idol [L The calf of Samaria; v. 5]
will surely be smashed to pieces.
7 “·Israel’s foolish plans are like planting the wind [L They sow the wind],
·but they will harvest a storm [L and reap the whirlwind].
Like a stalk with no head of grain,
it produces ·nothing [L no flour].
Even if it produced something,
·other nations [foreigners] would ·eat [devour] it.
8 Israel is ·eaten [swallowed] up;
the people are ·mixed among [L among] the other nations
and have become ·useless to me [a useless pot/utensil/vessel].
9 Israel is like a wild donkey ·all by itself [wandering alone].
They have ·run [L gone up] to Assyria;
·They have hired other nations to protect them [L Ephraim has hired lovers; or Ephraim has sold herself to lovers].
10 Although Israel ·is mixed [or hired; or hired herself out] among the nations,
I will gather them together.
They will ·become weaker and weaker [begin to waste away]
·as they suffer under [from the burden/oppression of] the ·great king of Assyria [L king of princes].
11 “Although ·Israel [L Ephraim; 4:17] built more altars to remove sin,
they have become altars for sinning.
12 I have written many ·teachings [laws; instructions] for them,
but they think the teachings are ·strange and foreign [alien; irrelevant].
13 The Israelites offer sacrifices to me as gifts
and eat the meat,
but the Lord ·is not pleased with [does not accept] them.
He remembers ·the evil they have done [their wickedness/iniquity],
and he will punish them for their sins.
They will ·be slaves again as they were in [L return to] Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and has built palaces;
Judah has built many ·strong, walled [fortified] cities.
But I will send fire on their cities
and ·destroy [L it will devour/consume] their ·strong buildings [strongholds; citadels].”