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10 [a]Hear the word of the Lord,
    princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
    people of Gomorrah!

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Footnotes

  1. 1:10–17 A powerful indictment of the religious hypocrisy of rulers and others who neglect just judgment and oppress the weaker members, yet believe they can please God with sacrifices and other external forms of worship. The long list of observances suggests the Lord’s tedium with such attempts. Sodom…Gomorrah: the names are picked up from v. 9, but now to emphasize their wickedness rather than the good fortune of escaping total destruction.

16     Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
    cease doing evil;
17     learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
    hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.(A)

18 Come now, let us set things right,[a]
    says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
    they may become white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
    they may become white as wool.(B)
19 If you are willing, and obey,
    you shall eat the good things of the land;
20 But if you refuse and resist,
    you shall be eaten by the sword:
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken!

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Footnotes

  1. 1:18–20 Let us set things right: the Hebrew word refers to the arbitration of legal disputes (Jb 23:7). God offers to settle his case with Israel on the basis of the change of behavior demanded above. For Israel it is a life or death choice; life in conformity with God’s will or death for continued disobedience.