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15 The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
    because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
    because all their leaders are rebels.

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11 But the people of Gilead are worthless
    because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
    their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
    along the edges of a plowed field.

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15 “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
    may Judah not be guilty of such things.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,[a]
    and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:15 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”

23 Your leaders are rebels,
    the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
    and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
    or fight for the rights of widows.

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Don’t you remember, my people,
    how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed
    and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove[a] to Gilgal,
    when I, the Lord, did everything I could
    to teach you about my faithfulness.”

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Footnotes

  1. 6:5 Hebrew Shittim.

Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
    don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
    and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

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16 Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places.

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19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month.[a] Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. 20 It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River.

21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”

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Footnotes

  1. 4:19 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March, April, or early May.
  2. 4:23 Hebrew sea of reeds.

27 “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

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The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”

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I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month.

But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.

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Its leaders are like roaring lions
    hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
    who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.

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11 You rulers make decisions based on bribes;
    you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;
you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.
    Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.
“No harm can come to us,” you say,
    “for the Lord is here among us.”

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27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,[a]” says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:26-27 Greek version reads No, you carried your pagan gods—the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made for yourselves. So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus. Compare Acts 7:43.

“Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel.
    Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.
Offer sacrifices each morning,
    and bring your tithes every three days.

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17 My God will reject the people of Israel
    because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
    homeless among the nations.

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You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
    Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
    that is ceremonially unclean.

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Its people don’t realize
    that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
    and I see them all.

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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.
You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove.[a]
    But I will settle with you for what you have done.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Hebrew at Shittim. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.

‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
    So now I will punish both priests and people
    for their wicked deeds.

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This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests,[a] or even idols!

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Footnotes

  1. 3:4 Hebrew ephod, the vest worn by the priest.

And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

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Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

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18 “In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts.

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27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!

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