Hosea 8:7-9

New International Reader's Version

“Worshiping other gods is like worshiping the wind.
    It is like planting worthless seeds.
Assyria is like a windstorm.
    That is all my people will harvest.
There are no heads of grain
    on the stems that will come up.
    So they will not produce any flour.
Even if they did produce grain,
    the Assyrians would eat all of it up.
⁸ So the people of Israel are swallowed up.
    Now they are among the nations
    like something no one wants.
⁹ They have gone up to Assyria for help.
    They are like a wild donkey
    that wanders around by itself.
Ephraim’s people have sold themselves
    to their Assyrian lovers.