The Rebuke of Israel's Idolatry

81 Put the trumpet to your lips ! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord , Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law . 2 They cry out to Me, "My God , we of Israel know You!" 3 Israel has rejected the good ; The enemy will pursue him. 4 They have set up kings , but not by Me; They have appointed princes , but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off . 5 He has rejected your calf , O Samaria , saying, "My anger burns against them!" How long will they be incapable e of innocence ? 6 For from Israel is even this ! A craftsman made it, so it is not God ; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces . 7 For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind . The standing grain has no heads ; It yields no grain . Should it yield , strangers would swallow it up.

8 Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a vessel in which no one delights . 9 For they have gone up to Assyria , Like a wild donkey all alone ; Ephraim has hired lovers . 10 Even though they hire allies among the nations , Now I will gather them up; And they will begin to diminish Because of the burden of the king of princes . 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin , They have become altars of sinning for him. 12 Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law , They are regarded as a strange thing . 13 As for My sacrificial gifts , They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the Lord has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their iniquity , And punish them for 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 its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings .