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The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
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Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
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Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
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Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
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Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
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Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
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but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.
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Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
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Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
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“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
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Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
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The Day of the Lord
You, Lord, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.
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Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.
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Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.
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What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
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The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
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The Branch of the Lord
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.
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Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
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The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
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The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
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They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands.
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Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
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Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
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to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.”
