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Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:(A)

You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.(B)

Do two walk together
    unless they have made an appointment?(C)
Does a lion roar in the forest
    when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
    if it has caught nothing?(D)
Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
    when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city
    unless the Lord has done it?(E)
Surely the Lord God does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.(F)
The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?(G)

Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on Mount[a] Samaria,
    and see what great tumults are within it
    and what oppressions are in its midst.”(H)
10 They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
    those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.(I)
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
An adversary shall surround the land
    and strip you of your defense,
    and your strongholds shall be plundered.(J)

12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[b] of a bed.(K)

13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,
    says the Lord God, the God of hosts:(L)
14 On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
    I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house,
    and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,
            says the Lord.(M)

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
    who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
    who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”(N)
The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
    The time is surely coming upon you
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.(O)
Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
    each one straight ahead,
    and you shall be flung out into Harmon,[d]
            says the Lord.
Come to Bethel—and transgress;
    to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;(P)
bring a thank offering of leavened bread
    and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
    for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
            says the Lord God.(Q)

Israel Rejects Correction

I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
    and lack of bread in all your places;
yet you did not return to me,
            says the Lord.(R)

And I also withheld the rain from you
    when there were still three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would be rained upon,
    and the field on which it did not rain withered;
so two or three towns wandered to one town
    to drink water and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
            says the Lord.(S)

I struck you with blight and mildew;
    I laid waste[e] your gardens and your vineyards;
    the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
            says the Lord.(T)

10 I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;[f]
    and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
            says the Lord.(U)

11 I overthrew some of you
    as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
            says the Lord.(V)

12 Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    prepare to meet your God, O Israel!(W)

13 For the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
    reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth—
    the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!(X)

Footnotes

  1. 3.9 Gk Syr: Heb the mountains of
  2. 3.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 3.15 Or many houses
  4. 4.3 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  5. 4.9 Cn: Heb the multitude of
  6. 4.10 Heb with the captivity of your horses