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HOSEA • CHAPTER 8
Hosea 8
Marriage imagery, covenant betrayal, judgment, divine love, political instability, repentance, and restoration.
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Hosea 8
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
“Put the trumpet to your lips!
Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house,
because they have broken my covenant,
and rebelled against my law.
Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house,
because they have broken my covenant,
and rebelled against my law.
2
They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’
3
Israel has cast off that which is good.
The enemy will pursue him.
The enemy will pursue him.
4
They have set up kings, but not by me.
They have made princes, and I didn’t approve.
Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols,
that they may be cut off.
They have made princes, and I didn’t approve.
Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols,
that they may be cut off.
5
Let Samaria throw out his calf idol!
My anger burns against them!
How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
My anger burns against them!
How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
6
For this is even from Israel!
The workman made it, and it is no God;
indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
The workman made it, and it is no God;
indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7
For they sow the wind,
and they will reap the whirlwind.
He has no standing grain.
The stalk will yield no head.
If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.
and they will reap the whirlwind.
He has no standing grain.
The stalk will yield no head.
If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.
8
Israel is swallowed up.
Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.
Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.
9
For they have gone up to Assyria,
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
10
But although they sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them;
and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
I will now gather them;
and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
11
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they became for him altars for sinning.
they became for him altars for sinning.
12
I wrote for him the many things of my law;
but they were regarded as a strange thing.
but they were regarded as a strange thing.
13
As for the sacrifices of my offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it;
But Yahweh doesn’t accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
and punish their sins.
They will return to Egypt.
they sacrifice meat and eat it;
But Yahweh doesn’t accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
and punish their sins.
They will return to Egypt.
14
For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
but I will send a fire on his cities,
and it will devour its fortresses.”
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
but I will send a fire on his cities,
and it will devour its fortresses.”
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Hosea uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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