5“Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.H8085H3548H7181H1004H3478H238H1004H4428H4941H6341H4709H7568H6566H8396 2You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done.H7846H6009H7819H4148 3I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.H3045H669H3478H3582H669H2181H3478H2930 4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.H5414H4611H7725H430H7307H2183H7130H3045H3068 5“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.H1347H3478H6030H6440H3478H669H3782H5771H3063H3782 6When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.H3212H6629H1241H1245H3068H4672H2502 7They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.H898H3068H3205H2114H1121H2320H398H2506 8“Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!H8628H7782H1390H2689H7414H7321H1007H310H1144 9One thing is certain, Israel: On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble.H669H8047H3117H8433H7626H3478H3045H539 10“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.H8269H3063H5253H1366H8210H5678H4325 11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.H669H6231H7533H4941H2974H1980H310H6673 12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.H669H6211H1004H3063H7538 13“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria—to the great king there—but he could neither help nor cure them.H669H7200H2483H3063H4205H3212H669H804H7971H4428H3377H7378H3201H7495H1455H4205 14I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.H669H7826H3715H1004H3063H2963H3212H5375H5337 15Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”H3212H7725H4725H816H1245H6440H6862H7836
6“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.H3212H7725H3068H2963H7495H5221H2280 2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.H3117H2421H7992H3117H6965H2421H6440 3Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”H3045H7291H3045H3068H4161H3559H7837H935H1653H4456H3384H776 4“O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.H669H6213H3063H6213H2617H1242H6051H7925H2919H1980 5I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light.H2672H5030H2026H561H6310H4941H216H3318 6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.H2654H2617H2077H1847H430H5930 7But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust.H120H5674H1285H898 8“Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood.H1568H7151H6466H205H6121H1818 9Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin.H1416H2442H376H2267H3548H7523H1870H7926H7927H6213H2154 10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!H7200H8186H1004H3478H2184H669H3478H2930 11“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.H3063H7896H7105H7725H7622H5971
7“I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside!H7495H3478H5771H669H1540H7451H8111H6466H8267H1590H935H1416H6584H2351 2Its people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all.H559H3824H2142H7451H4611H5437H6440 3“The people entertain the king with their wickedness, and the princes laugh at their lies.H4428H8055H7451H8269H3585 4They are all adulterers, always aflame with lust. They are like an oven that is kept hot while the baker is kneading the dough.H5003H8574H1197H644H7673H5782H3888H1217H2556 5On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine, carousing with those who mock them.H3117H4428H8269H2470H2534H3196H4900H3027H3945 6Their hearts are like an oven blazing with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.H7126H3820H8574H693H644H3463H3915H1242H1197H3852H784 7Burning like an oven, they consume their leaders. They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries to me for help.H2552H8574H398H8199H4428H5307H7121 8“The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!H669H1101H5971H669H5692H2015 9Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Their hair is gray, but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.H2114H398H3581H3045H7872H2236H3045 10Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don’t return to the Lord their God or even try to find him.H1347H3478H6030H6440H7725H3068H430H1245 11“The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves, first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.H669H6601H3123H3820H7121H4714H1980H804 12But as they fly about, I will throw my net over them and bring them down like a bird from the sky. I will punish them for all the evil they do.H3212H6566H7568H3381H5775H8064H3256H5712H8088 13“What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me! Let them die, for they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them, but they have told lies about me.H188H5074H7701H6586H6299H1696H3577 14They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine, and they turn away from me.H2199H3820H3213H4904H1481H1715H8492H5493 15I trained them and made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me.H3256H2388H2220H2803H7451 16They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.H7725H5920H7423H7198H8269H5307H2719H2195H3956H2097H3933H776H4714
8“Sound the alarm! The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law.H7782H2441H5404H1004H3068H5674H1285H6586H8451 2Now Israel pleads with me, ‘Help us, for you are our God!’H3478H2199H430H3045 3But it is too late. The people of Israel have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them.H3478H2186H2896H341H7291 4The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my knowledge. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction.H4427H7786H3045H3701H2091H6213H6091H3772 5“O Samaria, I reject this calf—this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence?H5695H8111H2186H639H2734H3808H3201H5356 6This calf you worship, O Israel, was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.H3478H2796H6213H430H5695H8111H7616 7“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.H2232H7307H7114H5492H7054H6780H6213H7058H194H6213H2114H1104 8The people of Israel have been swallowed up; they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.H3478H1104H1471H3627H2656 9Like a wild donkey looking for a mate, they have gone up to Assyria. The people of Israel have sold themselves—sold themselves to many lovers.H5927H804H6501H909H669H8566H158 10But though they have sold themselves to many allies, I will now gather them together for judgment. Then they will writhe under the burden of the great king.H8566H1471H6908H2490H4592H4853H4428H8269 11“Israel has built many altars to take away sin, but these very altars became places for sinning!H669H7235H4196H2398H4196H2398 12Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.H3789H7230H7239H8451H2803H2114 13The people of Israel love their rituals of sacrifice, but to me their sacrifices are all meaningless. I will hold my people accountable for their sins, and I will punish them. They will return to Egypt.H2076H1320H2077H1890H398H3068H7521H2142H5771H6485H2403H7725H4714 14Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities and will burn up their fortresses.”H3478H7911H6213H1129H1964H3063H7235H1219H5892H7971H784H5892H398H759
9O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.H8055H3478H1524H5971H2181H430H157H868H1637H1715 2So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine.H1637H3342H7462H8492H3584 3You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean.H3427H3068H776H669H7725H4714H398H2931H804 4There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord. None of your sacrifices there will please him. They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food themselves, but they may not offer it to the Lord.H5258H3196H3068H6149H2077H3899H205H398H2930H3899H5315H935H1004H3068 5What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?H6213H4150H3117H3117H2282H3068 6Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis will bury you. Nettles will take over your treasures of silver; thistles will invade your ruined homes.H1980H7701H4714H6908H4644H6912H4261H3701H7057H3423H2336H168 7The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!”H3117H6486H935H3117H7966H935H3478H3045H5030H191H7307H376H7696H7230H5771H7227H4895 8The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God.H6822H669H430H5030H6341H3352H1870H4895H1004H430 9The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins.H6009H7843H3117H1390H2142H5771H6485H2403 10The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert. When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol. Soon they became vile, as vile as the god they worshiped.H4672H3478H6025H4057H7200H1H1063H8384H7225H935H1187H5144H1322H8251H157 11The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will not be born or grow in the womb or even be conceived.H669H3519H5774H5775H3205H990H2032 12Even if you do have children who grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone.H1431H1121H7921H120H188H5493 13I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”H669H7200H6865H8362H5116H669H3318H1121H2026 14O Lord, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth and breasts that give no milk.H5414H3068H5414H5414H7921H7358H6784H7699 15The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels.H7451H1537H8130H7455H4611H1644H1004H160H3254H8269H5637 16The people of Israel are struck down. Their roots are dried up, and they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children.”H669H5221H8328H3001H6213H6529H3205H4191H4261H990 17My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations.H430H3988H8085H5074H1471
Dublin, OH
. But I will settle with you for what you have done.H7846
