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[a]They made kings, but not by my authority;
    they established princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold
    they made idols for themselves,
    to their own destruction.
He has rejected your calf,[b] Samaria!(A)
    My wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be incapable of innocence
    in Israel?
An artisan made it,
    it is no god at all.(B)
The calf of Samaria
    will be dashed to pieces.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:4 Hosea is not against the monarchy, but against the conspiracies at the royal court (see note on 7:3–7). The king should be chosen by God (1 Kgs 19:15–16).
  2. 8:5 Calf: a cultic object introduced by Jeroboam I after the separation of the Northern Kingdom from the Southern Kingdom (1 Kgs 12:26–30; cf. Ex 32).