Judgment on Judah

⁴ Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^[a] because they have rejected the law of Yahweh and have not kept his rules, and their lies have led them astray, after which their ancestors walked!^{[b] 5} So I will send a fire against Judah and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

⁶ Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^[c] because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals! ⁷ Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father have sexual relations with^[d] the same girl, so that they profane my holy name. ⁸ They stretch themselves out beside every altar on clothing taken in pledge and they drink wine, bought with fines imposed,^[e] in the house of their God. ⁹ Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,^[f] who was as tall as^[g] cedars and was as strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. ¹⁰ And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness forty years to take possession of the land of the Amorite. ¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is it not so, O people^[h] of Israel? This is the declaration of Yahweh! ¹² But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’ ¹³ Look! I am going to press you down in your place just as a utility cart full of mature stalks of grain is pressed down. ¹⁴ Flight will perish from the swift and the strong person will not muster his strength and the warrior will not save his life. ¹⁵ And the one who takes hold of the bow will not stand and the one who is swift on his feet will not save himself, nor will the one who rides the horse save his life. ¹⁶ Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. This is the declaration of Yahweh!”