Israel Ignores God’s Wishes

Hosea 8:3–6, 11–14

Biblical Period

3Israel rejects what is good;
An enemy shall pursue him.
4They have made kings,
But not with My sanction;
They have made officers,
But not of My choice.
Of their silver and gold
They have made themselves images,
To their own undoing.
5He rejects your calf, Samaria!
Will they never be capable of purity?
6For it was Israel’s doing [ . . . ].
11For Ephraim has multiplied altars—for guilt;
His altars have redounded to his guilt:
12The many teachings I wrote for him
Have been treated as something alien.
13When they present sacrifices to Me,
It is but flesh for them to eat:
The Lord has not accepted them.
Behold, He remembers their iniquity,
He will punish their sins:
Back to Egypt with them!
14Israel has ignored his Maker
And built temples
(And Judah has fortified many cities).
So I will set fire to his cities,
And it shall consume their fortresses.

Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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