Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’

The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

“But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.

And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.

“I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes— a people without understanding will come to ruin!

I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.

“Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

“Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the Lord because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.

Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.

The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.

the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated— as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

God’s Love for Israel

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.

My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.

Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field.

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.

Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!”

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? “I will have no compassion,

The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.”