I will also reject thee,
That thou shalt be no priest to me.
Since thou hast forgotten the instruction of thy God,
I will also forget thy children.
I will change their glory into shame,
And it shall be, like people, like priest.
The people that doth not understand shall be overthrown!"

Hosea naturally, met opposition everywhere on the part of the priesthood
and the hirelings of the king. Undaunted, he rebuked Menahem and the
usurping rulers in Samaria, as well as the priests and the unrighteous
people.

"Hear this, O ye priests!
And hearken, O house of Israel,
And give heed, O house of the king,
Since for you is the judgment.
They themselves have made kings, without my consent;
They have made princes, but without my knowledge.
For they commit falsehood;
The thief entereth in and the troop of robbers ravageth without.
And they consider not in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness."

Then, his heart aching with pain, and remembering the sorrow of his
life, which led him to prophesy, he concludes:

"What shall I do unto you, O Ephraim!
What shall I do unto you, O Israel--
Since your love is like a morning cloud,