Social and Spiritual Corruption
1Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan
who are on the hill of Samaria,
women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,
who say to their husbands,
“Bring us something to drink.”
2The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
Look, the days are coming
when you will be taken away with hooks,
every last one of you with fishhooks.
3You will go through breaches in the wall,
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tenths every three days.
5Offer leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice,
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,
for that is what you Israelites love to do!
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy
6I gave you absolutely nothing to eat in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
7I also withheld the rain from you
while there were still three months until harvest.
I sent rain on one city
but no rain on another.
One field received rain
while a field with no rain withered.
8Two or three cities staggered
to another city to drink water
but were not satisfied,
yet you did not return to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9I struck you with blight and mildew;
the locust devoured
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,
yet you did not return to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
10I sent plagues like those of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,
yet you did not return to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
11I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from a fire,
yet you did not return to me —
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,
and since I will do that to you,
Israel, prepare to meet your God!
13He is here:
the one who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
the one who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.
The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.