-
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.
-
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?
-
“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.
-
For Samaria’s plague is incurable; it has spread to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself.
-
Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all. In Beth Ophrah roll in the dust.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Therefore you will give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Akzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
-
I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. The nobles of Israel will flee to Adullam.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.’”
-
Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot.
-
False Prophets
“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say. “Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
-
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?
-
Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
-
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.
-
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,
-
Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.
-
This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim ‘peace’ if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them.
-
Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them.
-
The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.”
-
But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.
-
Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
-
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.”
