For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
Hosea sees Israel going to battle and knows that the nation is about to bring a fitting calamity upon itself. He also condemns Judah, who took the opportunity to seize some of Israel’s territory. He sees the inner decay of both kingdoms as a judgment of God upon them (8-12).