Hosea 8:8-9

‘Israel is swallowed up.

Now are they among the nations,

As a vessel in which none delights.

.

For they are gone up to Assyria,

A wild ass alone by himself,

Ephraim has hired lovers.'

Not only will Israel's crops be swallowed up (Hosea 8:7), but the same will happen to Israel themselves. For they are now to be found courting the nations, although turning out to be a sad deserted figure (like a wild ass alone in the desert lands) welcomed finally only by Assyria. They had sought many allies against the Assyrians, but they had all deserted her for one reason or another (they had not delighted in her), driving her into the arms of the Assyrians. But now that Israel are a part of the Assyrian empire they have many hired lovers, including the Assyrian gods, for all the good it does them. Note the play on words of 'pr (Ephraim) and pr' (wild ass).

We can see in this a picture of the last decades of Israel prior to 722 BC, when they first sought alliances against Assyria (instead of looking to YHWH), and then finally, deserted by those allies, had to look to Assyria itself.