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Now the Lord has sworn this oath
    by his own name, the Pride of Israel[a]:
“I will never forget
    the wicked things you have done!
The earth will tremble for your deeds,
    and everyone will mourn.
The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;
    it will heave up, then sink again.

“In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth while it is still day.
10 I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning
    and your singing into weeping.
You will wear funeral clothes
    and shave your heads to show your sorrow—
as if your only son had died.
    How very bitter that day will be!

11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
    but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from border to border[b]
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.
13 Beautiful girls and strong young men
    will grow faint in that day,
    thirsting for the Lord’s word.
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[c]
they will all fall down,
    never to rise again.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8:7 Hebrew the pride of Jacob. See note on 3:13.
  2. 8:12 Hebrew from north to east.
  3. 8:14 Hebrew the way of Beersheba.

The Lord, the Pride of Israel, has sworn: “I won’t forget your deeds! The land will tremble as it awaits its doom, and everyone will mourn. It will rise up like the river Nile at floodtime, toss about, and sink again. At that time I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in the daytime. 10 And I will turn your parties into times of mourning, and your songs of joy will be turned to cries of despair. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads as signs of sorrow, as if your only son had died; bitter, bitter will be that day.

11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 Men will wander everywhere from sea to sea, seeking the word of the Lord, searching, running here and going there, but will not find it. 13 Beautiful girls and fine young men alike will grow faint and weary, thirsting for the word of God. 14 And those who worship the idols of Samaria, Dan, and Beersheba shall fall and never rise again.”

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