1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" |
2 The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness:
"The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks. |
3 You will each go straight out
through breaks in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,1 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, O mountain of oppression "
declares the LORD . |
4 "Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.2 4:4 Or tithes on the third day |
5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings-
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,"
declares the Sovereign LORD . |
6 "I gave you empty stomachs3 4:6 Hebrew you cleanness of teeth in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD . |
7 "I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up. |
8 People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD . |
9 "Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD . |
10 "I sent plagues among you
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD . |
11 "I overthrew some of you
as I4 4:11 Hebrew God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD . |
12 "Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel." |
13 He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth-
the LORD God Almighty is his name. |
