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Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
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Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
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All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem?
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“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.
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All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
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Weeping and Mourning
Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.
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For Samaria’s plague is incurable; it has spread to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself.
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Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all. In Beth Ophrah roll in the dust.
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Pass by naked and in shame, you who live in Shaphir. Those who live in Zaanan will not come out. Beth Ezel is in mourning; it no longer protects you.
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Those who live in Maroth writhe in pain, waiting for relief, because disaster has come from the Lord, even to the gate of Jerusalem.
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You who live in Lachish, harness fast horses to the chariot. You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
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Therefore you will give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Akzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
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I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. The nobles of Israel will flee to Adullam.
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Shave your head in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourself as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.
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Human Plans and God’s Plans
Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
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They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.
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Therefore, the Lord says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.
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In that day people will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
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Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot.
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False Prophets
“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say. “Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
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You descendants of Jacob, should it be said, “Does the Lord become impatient? Does he do such things?” “Do not my words do good to the one whose ways are upright?
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Lately my people have risen up like an enemy. You strip off the rich robe from those who pass by without a care, like men returning from battle.
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Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
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If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!
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Deliverance Promised
“I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
