Israel to reap the whirlwind
1‘Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2Israel cries out to me,
“Our God, we acknowledge you!”
3But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
5Throw out your calf-idol, Samaria!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6They are from Israel!
This calf – a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
7‘They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up;
now she is among the nations
like something no-one wants.
9For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11‘Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
they will return to Egypt.
14Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.’
Israel Will Harvest a Windstorm
1The Lord said to me,
“Put a trumpet to your lips!
Give a warning to my people!
Assyria is like an eagle.
It is ready to attack my land.
My people have broken the covenant I made with them.
They have refused to obey my law.
2Israel shouts to me,
‘We recognize you as our God!’
3But they have turned away from what is good.
So an enemy will chase them.
4My people appoint kings I do not want.
They choose princes without my permission.
They use their silver and gold
to make statues of gods.
That is how they destroy themselves.”
5The Lord says, “People of Samaria,
throw out your god that looks like a calf!
I am very angry with them.
How long will it be until they are able
to remain faithful to me?
6Their calf is not God.
A skilled worker from Israel made it.
But that calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”
7The Lord says,
“Worshiping other gods is like worshiping the wind.
It is like planting worthless seeds.
Assyria is like a windstorm.
That is all my people will harvest.
There are no heads of grain
on the stems that will come up.
So they will not produce any flour.
Even if they did produce grain,
the Assyrians would eat all of it up.
8So the people of Israel are swallowed up.
Now they are among the nations
like something no one wants.
9They have gone up to Assyria for help.
They are like a wild donkey
that wanders around by itself.
Ephraim’s people have sold themselves
to their Assyrian lovers.
10They have sold themselves to the nations
to get their help.
But now I will gather them together.
They will get weaker and weaker.
The mighty kings of Assyria will crush them.
11“Ephraim built many altars where they sacrificed
sin offerings to other gods.
So their altars have become
places where they commit sin.
12In my law I wrote down many things for their good.
But they considered those things as something strange.
13They offer sacrifices as gifts to me.
They eat the meat of the animals they bring.
But the Lord is not pleased with any of this.
He will remember the evil things they have done.
He will punish them for their sins.
And they will return to Egypt.
14Israel has forgotten the God who made them.
They have built palaces for themselves.
Judah has built forts in many towns.
But I will send down fire on their cities.
It will burn up their forts.”
