Judgment on Israel

6 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of jIsrael, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because kthey sell the righteous for silver,

And the lpoor for a pair of sandals.

7 They 1pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,

And mpervert the way of the humble.

nA man and his father go in to the same girl,

oTo defile My holy name.

8 They lie down pby every altar on clothes qtaken in pledge,

And drink the wine of 2the condemned in the house of their god.

9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the rAmorite before them,

Whose height was like the sheight of the cedars,

And he was as strong as the oaks;

Yet I tdestroyed his fruit above

And his roots beneath.

10 Also it was uI who brought you up from the land of Egypt,

And vled you forty years through the wilderness,

To possess the land of the Amorite.

11 I raised up some of your sons as wprophets,

And some of your young men as xNazirites.

Is it not so, O you children of Israel?”

Says the Lord.

12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,

And commanded the prophets ysaying,

‘Do not prophesy!’

13 “Behold, zI am 3weighed down by you,

As a cart full of sheaves 4is weighed down.

14 aTherefore 5flight shall perish from the swift,

The strong shall not strengthen his power,

bNor shall the mighty 6deliver himself;

15 He shall not stand who handles the bow,

The swift of foot shall not 7escape,

Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.

16 The most 8courageous men of might

Shall flee naked in that day,”

Says the Lord.