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Israel’s Love for Wickedness

“I want to heal Israel, but its[a] sins are too great.
    Samaria is filled with liars.
Thieves are on the inside
    and bandits on the outside!

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Footnotes

  1. 7:1 Hebrew Ephraim’s, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; similarly in 7:8, 11.

13 “What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
    Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
    but they have told lies about me.

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“O Israel[a] and Judah,
    what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
    and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.

42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.

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Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
    Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
    and together they scheme to twist justice.
Even the best of them is like a brier;
    the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns.
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now.
    Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.
Don’t trust anyone—
    not your best friend or even your wife!
For the son despises his father.
    The daughter defies her mother.
The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law.
    Your enemies are right in your own household!

As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
    I wait confidently for God to save me,
    and my God will certainly hear me.

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You make vows and break them;
    you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
    one murder after another.

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34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

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Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

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16 You keep only the laws of evil King Omri;
    you follow only the example of wicked King Ahab!
Therefore, I will make an example of you,
    bringing you to complete ruin.
You will be treated with contempt,
    mocked by all who see you.”

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14 And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—
    who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan
    and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba[a]
they will all fall down,
    never to rise again.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8:14 Hebrew the way of Beersheba.

Charges against Israel and Judah

12 [a]Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit,
    but Judah still obeys God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.[b]

12 [c]The people of Israel[d] 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.

Footnotes

  1. 11:12a Verse 11:12 is numbered 12:1 in Hebrew text.
  2. 11:12b Or and Judah is unruly against God, the faithful Holy One. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  3. 12:1a Verses 12:1-14 are numbered 12:2-15 in Hebrew text.
  4. 12:1b Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 12:8, 14.

The people of Samaria tremble in fear
    for their calf idol at Beth-aven,[a]
    and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
    its glory will be stripped away.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
  2. 10:5b Or will be taken away into exile.

Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
    they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel[a] have sold themselves—
    sold themselves to many lovers.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 8:11.

“O Samaria, I reject this calf—
    this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
    How long will you be incapable of innocence?

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“Gilead is a city of sinners,
    tracked with footprints of blood.
Priests form bands of robbers,
    waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
    and practice every kind of sin.
10 Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
    My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

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The Failure of Israel’s Leaders

“Hear this, you priests.
    Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.
Listen, you members of the royal family.
    Judgment has been handed down against you.
For you have led the people into a snare
    by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.

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17 Leave Israel[a] alone,
    because she is married to idolatry.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:17 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.

The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

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46 “Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south.

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We would have helped her if we could,
    but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
    Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
    it is so great it cannot be measured.

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[a]Oh, that I could go away and forget my people
    and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.
For they are all adulterers—
    a pack of treacherous liars.

Judgment for Disobedience

“My people bend their tongues like bows
    to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
    They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,”
    says the Lord.

“Beware of your neighbor!
    Don’t even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
    and friend slanders friend.
They all fool and defraud each other;
    no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
    they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
They pile lie upon lie
    and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,”
    says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:2 Verses 9:2-26 are numbered 9:1-25 in Hebrew text.

12 For our sins are piled up before God
    and testify against us.
    Yes, we know what sinners we are.

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A Message about Samaria

28 What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria—
    the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel.[a]
It sits at the head of a fertile valley,
    but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower.
It is the pride of a people
    brought down by wine.

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Footnotes

  1. 28:1 Hebrew What sorrow awaits the crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim, referring to Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.

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