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8Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law. ²Israel cries to me, “My God, we—Israel—know you!” ³Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him. ⁴They made kings, but not through me; they set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. ⁵Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? ⁶For it is from Israel, an artisan made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. ⁷For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield, foreigners would devour it.

⁸Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the nations as a useless vessel. ⁹For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass wandering alone; Ephraim has bargained for lovers. ¹⁰Though they bargain with the nations, I will now gather them up. They shall soon writhe under the burden of kings and princes. ¹¹When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin, they became to him altars for sinning. ¹²Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions, they are regarded as a strange thing. ¹³Though they offer choice sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. ¹⁴Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his strongholds.