Hos 8, Hos 11 | ESV | STEP | Set the trumpet to your lips ! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord , because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law .

1 Set ^athe trumpet to your lips!
One ^blike a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because ^cthey have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
^d“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 ^eThey made kings, ^fbut not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 ^gI have ^{▼▼Hebrew He has} spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
ⁱHow long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
^jThe calf of Samaria
^kshall be broken to pieces. ^{▼▼Or shall go up in flames}
7 For ^mthey sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
ⁿstrangers would devour it.
8 ^oIsrael is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as ^pa useless vessel.
9 For ^qthey have gone up to Assyria,
^ra wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And ^sthe king and princes ^tshall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim ^uhas multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 ^vWere I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
^wthey sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
^xNow he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
^ythey shall return to Egypt.
14 For ^zIsrael has forgotten ^aahis Maker
and ^abbuilt palaces,
and ^acJudah has multiplied fortified cities;
so ^adI will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.

Hosea 11

The Lord’s Love for Israel

1 ^aeWhen Israel was a child, ^afI loved him,
and out of Egypt I ^agcalled ^ahmy son.
2 ^aiThe more they were called,
the more they went away;
^ajthey kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was ^akI who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that ^alI healed them.
4 ^amI led them with cords of kindness, ^{▼▼Or humaneness; Hebrew man}
with the bands of love,
and ^aoI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and ^apI bent down to them and fed them.
5 ^aqThey shall not ^{▼▼Or surely} return to the land of Egypt,
but ^asAssyria shall be their king,
^atbecause ^authey have refused to return to me.
6 ^avThe sword shall rage against their cities,
consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them ^awbecause of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent ^axon turning away from me,
and though ^aythey call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^azHow can I make you ^balike Admah?
How can I treat you ^bblike Zeboiim?
^bcMy heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^bdfor I am God and not a man,
^bethe Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath. ^{▼▼Or into the city}
10 ^bgThey shall go after the Lord;
^bhhe will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling ^bifrom the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds ^bjfrom Egypt,
and ^bklike doves ^blfrom the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
12 ^{▼▼Ch 12:1 in Hebrew} Ephraim ^bnhas surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.