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Second Edition · Explore Scripture, one passage at a time.
8:1 Sound the alarm! An eagle looms over the temple of the Lord! For they have broken their covenant with me and have rebelled against my law. 8:2 Israel cries out to me, “My God, we acknowledge you!” 8:3 But Israel has rejected what is morally good; so an enemy will pursue him.
8:4 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! 8:5 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! 8:6 That idol was made by a workman—it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
8:7 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. 8:8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations; they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.
8:9 They have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey that wanders off. Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. 8:10 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.
8:11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning. 8:12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail, but they regard it as something totally unknown to them. 8:13 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. 8:14 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.
NET Bible Second Edition. Copyright 2017 Biblical Studies Press
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