6 Samaria’s calf-shaped idol was made in Israel.Skilled workers made it.It is not a god.It will be smashed to pieces.
7 “The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm.A field of grain that doesn’t ripen will never produce any grain.Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.
8 Israel will be swallowed up.It has already mixed in with the other nations.It has become worthless.
9 “The people of Israel went to Assyria.They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone.The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.
10 Even though they sold themselves among the nations,I will gather them now.They will suffer for a while under the burdens of kings and princes.
11 “The more altars that the people of Ephraim buildto make offerings to pay for their sins,the more places they have for sinning.
12 I have written many things for them in my teachings,but they consider these things strange and foreign.