Social and Spiritual Corruption

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan(A)
who are on the hill of Samaria,
women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,(B)
who say to their husbands,
“Bring us something to drink.”(C)

The Lord God has sworn(D) by his holiness:(E)

Look, the days are coming[a]
when you will be taken away with hooks,(F)
every last one of you with fishhooks.(G)
You will go through breaches in the wall,(H)
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!(I)
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(J)
your tenths every three days.
Offer leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice,(K)
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,(L)
for that is what you Israelites love to do!(M)

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy

I gave you absolutely nothing to eat[b](N) in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to me.(O)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I also withheld the rain from you(P)
while there were still three months until harvest.
I sent rain on one city
but no rain on another.(Q)
One field received rain
while a field with no rain withered.(R)
Two or three cities staggered
to another city to drink water(S)
but were not satisfied,(T)
yet you did not return(U) to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I struck you with blight and mildew;(V)
the locust devoured(W)
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,(X)
yet you did not return to me.(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

10 I sent plagues like those of Egypt;(Z)
I killed your young men with the sword,(AA)
along with your captured horses.(AB)
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,(AC)
yet you did not return to me.(AD)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

11 I overthrew some of you
as I[c] overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,(AE)
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from a fire,(AF)
yet you did not return to me(AG)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

12 Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,
and since I will do that to you,
Israel, prepare to meet your God!(AH)
13 He is here:
the one who forms the mountains,(AI)
creates the wind,(AJ)
and reveals his thoughts to man,(AK)
the one who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.(AL)
The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. 4:2 Lit coming on you
  2. 4:6 Lit you cleanness of teeth
  3. 4:11 Lit God

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.

And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:

And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.

And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.