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
10How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.H3478H1238H1612H7737H6529H7230H6529H7235H4196H2896H776H2895H4676 2The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The Lord will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.H3820H2505H816H6202H4196H7703H4676 3Then they will say, “We have no king because we didn’t fear the Lord. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us anyway?”H559H4428H3372H3068H4428H6213 4They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.H1696H1697H422H7723H3772H1285H4941H6524H7219H8525H7704 5The people of Samaria tremble in fear for what might happen to their calf idol at Beth-aven. The people mourn and the priests wail, because its glory will be stripped away.H7934H8111H1481H5697H1007H5971H56H3649H1523H3519H1540 6This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol.H2986H804H4503H4428H3377H669H3947H1317H3478H954H6098 7Samaria and its king will be cut off; they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.H8111H4428H1820H7110H6440H4325 8And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”H1116H206H2403H3478H8045H6975H1863H5927H4196H559H2022H3680H1389H5307 9The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?H3478H2398H3117H1390H5975H4421H1390H1121H5932H5381 10Now whenever it fits my plan, I will attack you, too. I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins.H185H3256H5971H622H631H8147H5869 11“Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground.H669H5697H3925H157H1758H5674H2898H6677H669H7392H3063H2790H3290H7702 12I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’H2232H6666H7114H6310H2617H5214H5215H6256H1875H3068H935H3384H6664 13“But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies—trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe.H2790H7562H7114H5766H398H6529H3585H982H1870H7230H1368 14Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall, just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. Even mothers and children were dashed to death there.H7588H6965H5971H4013H7703H8020H7701H1009H3117H4421H517H7376H1121 15You will share that fate, Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day of judgment dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.H3602H1008H6213H6440H7451H7451H7837H4428H3478H1820H1820
11“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.H3478H5288H157H7121H1121H4714 2But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.H7121H1980H6440H2076H1168H6999H6456 3I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him.H8637H669H8637H3947H2220H3045H7495 4I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.H4900H2256H120H5688H160H7311H5923H3895H5186H398 5“But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria.H7725H776H4714H804H4428H3985H7725 6War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates. They will destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans.H2719H2342H5892H3615H905H398H4156 7For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.H5971H8511H4878H7121H5920H3162H7311 8“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.H5414H669H4042H3478H5414H126H7760H6636H3820H2015H5150H3648H3162 9No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy.H6213H2740H639H7725H7843H669H410H376H6918H7130H935H5892 10For someday the people will follow me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west.H3212H310H3068H7580H738H7580H1121H2729H3220 11Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the Lord.H2729H6833H4714H3123H776H804H3427H1004H5002H3068 12Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still obeys God and is faithful to the Holy One.H669H5437H3585H1004H3478H4820H3063H7300H410H539H6918
12 The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.H669H7462H7307H7291H6921H3117H7235H3577H7701H3772H1285H804H8081H2986H4714 2Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.H3068H7379H3063H6485H3290H1870H4611H7725 3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.H251H6117H990H202H8280H430 4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him①—/ ①As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.H7786H4397H3201H1058H2603H4672H1008H1696 5the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!H3068H430H6635H3068H2143 6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.H7725H430H8104H2617H4941H6960H430H8548 7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales—they love to cheat.H3667H3976H4820H3027H157H6231 8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!”H669H559H6238H4672H202H3018H4672H5771H2399 9“But I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. And I will make you live in tents again, as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.H3068H430H776H4714H3427H168H3117H4150 10I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.”H1696H5030H7235H2377H1819H3027H5030 11But the people of Gilead are worthless because of their idol worship. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field.H205H1568H7723H2076H7794H1537H4196H1530H8525H7704 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.H3290H1272H7704H758H3478H5647H802H802H8104 13Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.H5030H3068H5927H3478H4714H5030H8104 14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the Lord, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins.H669H3707H8563H5203H1818H2781H113H7725
Dublin, OH
have sold themselves—sold themselves to many lovers.H5927
