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Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest,
    like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned[a]
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
    It will be utterly desolate.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:9 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads like places of the wood and the highest bough.

11 Therefore,” says the Sovereign Lord,
    “an enemy is coming!
He will surround them and shatter their defenses.
    Then he will plunder all their fortresses.”

12 This is what the Lord says:

“A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth
    will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear.
So it will be for the Israelites in Samaria lying on luxurious beds,
    and for the people of Damascus reclining on couches.[a]

13 “Now listen to this, and announce it throughout all Israel,[b]” says the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

14 “On the very day I punish Israel for its sins,
    I will destroy the pagan altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy—
    their winter mansions and their summer houses, too—
all their palaces filled with ivory,”
    says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew in this sentence is uncertain.
  2. 3:13 Hebrew the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.

10 The fortified towns will be silent and empty,
    the houses abandoned, the streets overgrown with weeds.
Calves will graze there,
    chewing on twigs and branches.

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13 But the land[a] will become empty and desolate
    because of the wickedness of those who live there.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:13 Or earth.

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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11 I will tear down your walls
    and demolish your defenses.

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The pagan shrines of your ancestors[a] will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

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Footnotes

  1. 7:9 Hebrew of Isaac.

15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
    but the east wind—a blast from the Lord
    will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
    and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
    will be plundered and carried away.
16 [a]The people of Samaria
    must bear the consequences of their guilt
    because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
    their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
    their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”

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Footnotes

  1. 13:16 Verse 16 is numbered 14:1 in Hebrew text.

14 Now the terrors of war
    will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
    just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
    were dashed to death there.

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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.
For the Lord will send a mighty army against it.
    Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain,
they will burst upon it like a surging flood
    and smash it to the ground.
The proud city of Samaria—
    the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel[b]
    will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet.
It sits at the head of a fertile valley,
    but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower.
Whoever sees it will snatch it up,
    as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten.

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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.
  2. 28:3 Hebrew The crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim; see note on 28:1.

Destruction of the Earth

24 Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth
    and make it a vast wasteland.
He devastates the surface of the earth
    and scatters the people.
Priests and laypeople,
    servants and masters,
    maids and mistresses,
    buyers and sellers,
    lenders and borrowers,
    bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
The earth will be completely emptied and looted.
    The Lord has spoken!

The earth mourns and dries up,
    and the land wastes away and withers.
    Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
The earth suffers for the sins of its people,
    for they have twisted God’s instructions,
violated his laws,
    and broken his everlasting covenant.
Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.
    Its people must pay the price for their sin.
They are destroyed by fire,
    and only a few are left alive.
The grapevines waste away,
    and there is no new wine.
    All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;
    the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.
    The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
Gone are the joys of wine and song;
    alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
10 The city writhes in chaos;
    every home is locked to keep out intruders.
11 Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.
    Joy has turned to gloom.
    Gladness has been banished from the land.
12 The city is left in ruins,
    its gates battered down.

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“In that day Israel’s[a] glory will grow dim;
    its robust body will waste away.
The whole land will look like a grainfield
    after the harvesters have gathered the grain.
It will be desolate,
    like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:4 Hebrew Jacob’s. See note on 14:1.

And the people of Israel[a] and Samaria,
    who spoke with such pride and arrogance,
    will soon know it.
10 They said, “We will replace the broken bricks of our ruins with finished stone,
    and replant the felled sycamore-fig trees with cedars.”

11 But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel
    and stir up all their foes.
12 The Syrians[b] from the east and the Philistines from the west
    will bare their fangs and devour Israel.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
    His fist is still poised to strike.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:9 Hebrew of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 9:12 Hebrew Arameans.

16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

17 “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

18 In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. 19 They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. 20 In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River[a]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 7:20a Hebrew the river.
  2. 7:20b Hebrew shave off the head, the hair of the legs, and the beard.

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”

And he replied,

“Until their towns are empty,
    their houses are deserted,
    and the whole country is a wasteland;
12 until the Lord has sent everyone away,
    and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,
    it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
    so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”

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