1 Israel Reaps the Whirlwind Set the trumpet to your lips [announcing impending judgment]!Like a [great] vulturethe enemy comesagainst the house of the L,Because they have broken My covenantAnd transgressedandrebelled against My law.
2 Then they will cry out to Me,“My God, we of Israel know You!”
3 Israel has rejected the good;The enemy shall pursue him.
4 They set up kings, but not from Me [therefore without My blessing];They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.With their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves,That they might be cut off.
5 He has rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria,saying,“My wrath burns against them.”How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For even this [loathsome calf] is from Israel.A craftsman made it, so it is not God;Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to piecesandgo up in flames.
7 For they sow the wind [in evil]And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster].The standing grain has no growth;It yields no grain.If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.
8 Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];They are now among the nationsLike a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,Like a wild donkey wandering aloneandtaking her own way;Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).
10 Yes, even though [with presents] they hirealliesamong the nations,Now I will gather them up;And [in a little while] they will beginLit to be small.to grow weakanddiminishBecause of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].
11 For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].
12 I wrote for him the ten thousandpreceptsof My law,But they are regarded as a strange thing [which does not concern him].
13 As for My sacrificial offerings,They sacrifice the meat [as a mere formality] and eat it,But the Lis not pleased with themanddoes not accept them.Now He will rememberandtake into account their wickednessandguilt,And punish them for their sins.They will return [in captivity] to [another] Egypt [that is, Assyria].
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples],And Judah has built many fortified cities;But I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palacesandfortresses.