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Israel and Judah Will Be Judged

The Lord said:

Listen, you priests!
    Pay attention, Israel![a]
Listen, you members
    of the royal family.
Justice was your duty.
But[b] at Mizpah and Mount Tabor
    you trapped the people.
At the place of worship
you were a treacherous pit,[c]
    and I will punish you.

Israel, I know all about you,
and because of your unfaithfulness,
    I find you unacceptable.
Your evil deeds are the reason
you won't return to me,
    your Lord God.
And your constant craving for sex
    keeps you from knowing me.

Israel, your pride
    testifies to your guilt;
it makes you stumble,
    and Judah stumbles too.
You offer sheep and cattle
    as sacrifices to me,
but I have turned away
    and refuse to be found.
You have been unfaithful
    to me, your Lord;
you have had children
    by prostitutes.[d]
So at the New Moon Festival,
you and your crops
    will be destroyed.[e]

The Lord Warns Israel and Judah

Give a warning on the trumpet!
Let it be heard in Gibeah,
    Ramah, and sinful Bethel.[f]
Benjamin, watch out![g]
I, the Lord, will punish
    and wipe out Israel.
This is my solemn promise
    to every tribe of Israel.
10 Judah's leaders are like crooks
    who move boundary markers;
that's why I will flood them
    with my anger.

11 Israel was brutally crushed.
They got what they deserved
    for worshiping useless idols.[h]
12 Now I, the Lord,
will fill Israel with maggots
    and make Judah rot.
13 When Israel and Judah saw
    their sickness and wounds,
Israel asked help from Assyria
    and its mighty king.[i]

But the king cannot cure them
    or heal their wounds.
14 So I'll become a fierce lion
    attacking Israel and Judah.
I'll snatch and carry off
what I want,
    and no one can stop me.
15 Then I'll return to my temple
until they confess their guilt
    and worship me,
until they are desperate
    and beg for my help.

The Lord's People Speak

Let's return to the Lord.
    He has torn us to shreds,
but he will bandage our wounds
    and make us well.
In two or three days
    he will heal us
and restore our strength
    that we may live with him.
Let's do our best
    to know the Lord.
His coming is as certain
    as the morning sun;
he will refresh us like rain
renewing the earth
    in the springtime.

The Lord Speaks to Israel and Judah

People of Israel and Judah,
    what can I do with you?
Your love for me disappears
more quickly than mist
    or dew at sunrise.
That's why I slaughtered you
with the words
    of my prophets.
That's why my judgments blazed
    like the dawning sun.[j]
(A) I'd rather for you to be faithful
and to know me
    than to offer sacrifices.

At a place named Adam,
you[k] betrayed me
    by breaking our agreement.
Everyone in Gilead is evil;
your hands are stained
    with the blood of victims.[l]
You priests are like a gang
    of robbers in ambush.[m]
On the road to Shechem[n]
you murder and commit
    other horrible crimes.
10 I have seen a terrible thing
    in Israel—
you are unfaithful
    and unfit to worship me.
11 People of Judah,
    your time is coming too.

The Lord Wants To Help Israel

I, the Lord, would like to make
my nation prosper again

    and to heal its wounds.
But then I see the crimes
    in Israel[o] and Samaria.
Everyone is deceitful;
    robbers roam the streets.
No one realizes
that I have seen their sins
    surround them like a flood.

The king and his officials
take great pleasure
    in their sin and deceit.
Everyone burns with desire—
they are like coals in an oven,
    ready to burst into flames.
On the day their king
    was crowned,
his officials got him drunk,
and he joined
    in their foolishness.[p]

Their anger is a fire
that smolders all night,
    then flares up at dawn.
They are flames
    destroying their leaders.
And their kings are powerless;
    none of them trust me.

The people of Israel[q]
    have mixed with foreigners;
they are a thin piece of bread
    scorched on one side.
They don't seem to realize
    how weak and feeble they are;
their hair has turned gray,
    while foreigners rule.
10 I am the Lord, their God,
    but in all of their troubles
their pride keeps them
    from returning to me.

No Help from Foreign Nations

The Lord said:

11 Israel[r] is a senseless bird,
fluttering back and forth
    between Egypt and Assyria.
12 But I will catch them in a net
    as hunters trap birds;
I threatened to punish them,
    and indeed I will.[s]
13 Trouble and destruction
will be their reward
    for rejecting me.
I would have rescued them,
    but they told me lies.

14 They don't really pray to me;
    they just howl in their beds.
They have rejected me for Baal
    and slashed themselves,[t]
in the hope that Baal
    will bless their crops.
15 I taught them what they know,
    and I made them strong.
Now they plot against me
16     and refuse to obey.[u]
They are more useless
    than a crooked arrow.
Their leaders will die in war
    for saying foolish things.
Egyptians will laugh at them.

Israel Rejects the Lord

The Lord said:

Sound a warning!
Israel, you broke our agreement
    and ignored my teaching.
Now an eagle[v] is swooping down
    to attack my land.
Israel, you say, “We claim you,
    the Lord, as our God.”
But your enemies
will chase you for rejecting
    our good agreement.[w]

You chose kings and leaders
    without consulting me;
you made silver and gold idols
    that led to your downfall.
City of Samaria, I'm angry
because of your idol
    in the shape of a calf.
When will you ever
    be innocent again?
Someone from Israel built
that idol for you,
    but only I am God.
And so it will be smashed
    to pieces.[x]

If you scatter wind
    instead of wheat,
you will harvest a whirlwind
    and have no wheat.
Even if you harvest grain,
    enemies will steal it all.

Israel, you are ruined,
and now the nations
    consider you worthless.
You are like a wild donkey
    that goes its own way.
You've run off to Assyria
    and hired them as allies.
10 You can bargain with nations,
    but I'll catch you anyway.
Soon you will suffer abuse
    by kings and rulers.

11 Israel, you have built
many altars where you offer
    sacrifices for sin.
But these altars have become
    places for sin.
12 My instructions for sacrifices
were written in detail,
    but you ignored them.
13 You sacrifice your best animals
    and eat the sacrificial meals,[y]
but I, the Lord,
    refuse your offerings.
I will remember your sins
    and punish you.
Then you will return to Egypt.[z]

14 Israel, I created you,
    but you forgot me.
You and Judah built palaces
    and many strong cities.[aa]
Now I will send fire to destroy
    your towns and fortresses.

Footnotes

  1. 5.1 Israel: Probably meaning the tribal leaders of Israel.
  2. 5.1 Justice … duty. But: Or “You are doomed, because.”
  3. 5.2 At … pit: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 5.7 prostitutes: See 4.14, and the note at 1.2.
  5. 5.7 So … destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  6. 5.8 sinful Bethel: See the note at 4.15. Gibeah is 5 kilometers north of Jerusalem, Ramah is 8 kilometers north, and Bethel is 17.5 kilometers north. The attack comes from the south, and all the land of Benjamin (belonging to Israel) is in danger.
  7. 5.8 watch out: Or “lead the way.”
  8. 5.11 for … idols: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  9. 5.13 and … king: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  10. 6.5 That's why my … sun: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  11. 6.7 At … you: Or “Like Adam, you” or “Each one of you.”
  12. 6.8 your hands … victims: This may refer to child sacrifice.
  13. 6.9 You … ambush: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  14. 6.9 Shechem: This was one of the towns where people could run for safety, if they had accidentally killed someone (see Joshua 20.1-9).
  15. 7.1 Israel: See the note at 4.17. Samaria was the capital city of Israel.
  16. 7.5 foolishness: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.
  17. 7.8 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 4.17).
  18. 7.11 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 4.17).
  19. 7.12 I threatened … will: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  20. 7.14 slashed themselves: One ancient translation and some Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts “gather together.” Slashing themselves was one way of worshiping Baal (see 1 Kings 18.28).
  21. 7.16 and … obey: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  22. 8.1 an eagle: Or “a vulture.”
  23. 8.3 our good agreement: Or “me, the Good One” (referring to God).
  24. 8.6 smashed to pieces: Or “destroyed by fire.”
  25. 8.13 sacrifice … sacrificial meals: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of sacrifices are referred to: Those in which the whole animal is burned on the altar (“whole burnt offerings” in traditional translations) and those in which part is eaten by the worshipers (“fellowship offerings” in traditional translations).
  26. 8.13 return to Egypt: Either as slaves or to find help against Assyria.
  27. 8.14 built palaces … cities: They did this because they no longer trusted the Lord to protect them. “Palaces” may also mean “temples.”

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