Israel Has Not Returned to God
1
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria you women
who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands,
"Bring us some drinks!"
2
The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness:
"The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of yopu with fishhooks.
3
You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD.
4
"Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years.
5
Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings -
boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,"
declares the 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.
7
"I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away,
I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.
One field had rain; another had none and dried up.
8
People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
9
"Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig
and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
10
"I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men
with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your notstrils
with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,"
delcares the LORD.
11
"I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
12
"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel and because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel."
13
He who forms the mountains creates the wind and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth -
the LORD God Almighty is his name.
