Israel Has Not Returned to God

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashanr on Mount Samaria,s

you women who oppress the poort and crush the needyu

and say to your husbands,v “Bring us some drinks!w”

2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:

“The timex will surely come

when you will be taken awayy with hooks,z

the last of you with fishhooks.a

3 You will each go straight out

through breaches in the wall,a

and you will be cast out toward Harmon,b”

declares the Lord.

4 “Go to Bethelb and sin;

go to Gilgalc and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning,d

your tithese every three years.c f

5 Burn leavened breadg as a thank offering

and brag about your freewill offeringsh—

boast about them, you Israelites,

for this is what you love to do,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.

6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city

and lack of bread in every town,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares the Lord.i

7 “I also withheldj rain from you

when the harvest was still three months away.

I sent rain on one town,

but withheld it from another.k

One field had rain;

another had none and dried up.

8 People staggered from town to town for waterl

but did not get enoughm to drink,

yet you have not returnedn to me,”

declares the Lord.o

9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,

destroying them with blight and mildew.p

Locustsq devoured your fig and olive trees,r

yet you have not returneds to me,”

declares the Lord.

10 “I sent plaguest among you

as I did to Egypt.u

I killed your young menv with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I filled your nostrils with the stenchw of your camps,

yet you have not returned to me,”x

declares the Lord.y

11 “I overthrew some of you

as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.z

You were like a burning sticka snatched from the fire,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares the Lord.b

12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,

and because I will do this to you, Israel,

prepare to meet your God.”

13 He who forms the mountains,c

who creates the wind,d

and who reveals his thoughtse to mankind,

who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads on the heights of the earthf—

the Lord God Almighty is his name.g

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lamenth I take up concerning you:

2 “Fallen is Virgini Israel,

never to rise again,

deserted in her own land,

with no one to lift her up.j”

3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left;

your town that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten left.k”

4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seekl me and live;m

5 do not seek Bethel,

do not go to Gilgal,n

do not journey to Beersheba.o

For Gilgal will surely go into exile,

and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.a p”

6 Seekq the Lord and live,r

or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;s

it will devour them,

and Bethelt will have no one to quench it.u

7 There are those who turn justice into bitternessv

and cast righteousnessw to the ground.x

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,y

who turns midnight into dawnz

and darkens day into night,a

who calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the face of the land—

the Lord is his name.b

9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold

and brings the fortified city to ruin.c

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in courtd

and detest the one who tells the truth.e

11 You levy a straw tax on the poorf

and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,g

you will not live in them;h

though you have planted lush vineyards,

you will not drink their wine.i

12 For I know how many are your offenses

and how great your sins.j

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribesk

and deprive the poorl of justice in the courts.m

13 Therefore the prudent keep quietn in such times,

for the times are evil.o

14 Seek good, not evil,

that you may live.p

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil,q love good;r

maintain justice in the courts.s

Perhapst the Lord God Almighty will have mercyu

on the remnantv of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailingw in all the streetsx

and cries of anguish in every public square.

The farmersy will be summoned to weep

and the mourners to wail.

17 There will be wailingz in all the vineyards,

for I will pass througha your midst,”

says the Lord.b

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long

for the day of the Lord!c

Why do you long for the day of the Lord?d

That day will be darkness,e not light.f

19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,g

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.h

20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,i not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?j

21 “I hate,k I despise your religious festivals;l

your assembliesm are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offeringsn and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.o

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.p

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.q

24 But let justicer roll on like a river,

righteousnesss like a never-failing stream!t

25 “Did you bring me sacrificesu and offerings

forty yearsv in the wilderness, people of Israel?

26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,

the pedestal of your idols,w

the star of your godb—

which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore I will send you into exilex beyond Damascus,”

says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.y

Woe to the Complacent

6 Woe to youz who are complacenta in Zion,

and to you who feel secureb on Mount Samaria,c

you notable men of the foremost nation,

to whom the people of Israel come!d

2 Go to Kalnehe and look at it;

go from there to great Hamath,f

and then go down to Gathg in Philistia.

Are they better off thanh your two kingdoms?

Is their land larger than yours?

3 You put off the day of disaster

and bring near a reign of terror.i

4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory

and lounge on your couches.j

You dine on choice lambs

and fattened calves.k

5 You strum away on your harpsl like David

and improvise on musical instruments.m

6 You drink winen by the bowlful

and use the finest lotions,

but you do not grieveo over the ruin of Joseph.p

7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;q

your feasting and lounging will end.r

The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himselfs—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhort the pride of Jacobu

and detest his fortresses;v

I will deliver upw the city

and everything in it.x”

9 If teny people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn thema z asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!a We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,

and he will smashb the great housec into pieces

and the small house into bits.d

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?

Does one plow the seab with oxen?

But you have turned justice into poisone

and the fruit of righteousnessf into bitternessg—

13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debarc

and say, “Did we not take Karnaimd by our own strength?h”

14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,

“I will stir up a nationi against you, Israel,

that will oppress you all the way

from Lebo Hamathj to the valley of the Arabah.k”