8The LORD says, "Sound the alarm! Enemies are swooping down on my land like eagles! My people have broken the covenant I made with them and have rebelled against my teaching.H7782H2441H5404H1004H3068H5674H1285H6586H84512Even though they call me their God and claim that they are my people and that they know me,H3478H2199H430H30453they have rejected what is good. Because of this their enemies will pursue them.H3478H2186H2896H341H72914"My people chose kings, but they did it on their own. They appointed leaders, but without my approval. They took their silver and gold and made idols - for their own destruction.H4427H7786H3045H3701H2091H6213H6091H37725I hate the gold bull worshiped by the people of the city of Samaria. I am furious with them. How long will it be before they give up their idolatry?H5695H8111H2186H639H2734H3808H3201H53566An Israelite craftsman made the idol, and it is not a god at all! The gold bull worshiped in Samaria will be smashed to pieces!H3478H2796H6213H430H5695H8111H76167When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm! A field of grain that doesn't ripen can never produce any bread. But even if it did, foreigners would eat it up.H2232H7307H7114H5492H7054H6780H6213H7058H194H6213H2114H11048Israel has become like any other nation and is as useless as a broken pot.H3478H1104H1471H3627H26569Stubborn as wild donkeys, the people of Israel go their own way. They have gone off to seek help from Assyria and have paid other nations to protect them.H5927H804H6501H909H669H8566H15810But now I am going to gather them together and punish them. Soon they will writhe in pain when the emperor of Assyria oppresses them.H8566H1471H6908H2490H4592H4853H4428H826911"The more altars the people of Israel build for removing sin, the more places they have for sinning!H669H7235H4196H2398H4196H239812I write down countless teachings for the people, but they reject them as strange and foreign.H3789H7230H7239H8451H2803H211413They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of the sacrifices. But I, the LORD, am not pleased with them, and now I will remember their sin and punish them for it; I will send them back to Egypt!H2076H1320H2077H1890H398H3068H7521H2142H5771H6485H2403H7725H471414"The people of Israel have built palaces, but they have forgotten their own Maker. The people of Judah have built fortified cities. But I will send fire that will burn down their palaces and their cities."H3478H7911H6213H1129H1964H3063H7235H1219H5892H7971H784H5892H398H759