Now they sin more and more, And have made themselves molten images of their silver, Even idols according to their own understanding, All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves."
The New English Bible, of course, has a "corrected" version of Hosea in this place: "Those who kiss calf-images offer human sacrifice"; but we agree with Polkinghorne that, "The New English Bible does not improve the sense with such a rendition."[8]  The problem for some of the translators is that they have failed to take into account the somewhat independent and disconnected outburst, "Men kiss calves!"  It is certain that the prophet felt no compulsion whatever to follow the staid and precise rules of grammatical construction.  The American Standard Version is fully adequate in the rendition followed here.