Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judgments Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punish-on Judah ment thereof; because they sold the righteous for & Israel silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, 5 and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: and they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god. 10 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty 15 years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; 20 and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver 25 himself: neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse Israel deliver himself. And he that is courageous among the must be mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD. Punished 10 15 20 25 * Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family 5 which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth : therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Can two walk together, Except they be agreed? When he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, And the people not be afraid ? Shall there be evil in a city, And the LORD hath not done it ? Surely the Lord God will do nothing, But he revealeth his secret Unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, Who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the Israel palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble must be yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and Punished behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. For they know 5 not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. Therefore thus saith the Lord GoD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy 10 palaces shall be spoiled. Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in 15 Damascus in a couch. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Beth-el: and the 20 horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. * Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, 25 Former Bring, and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn Calamities by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon Ineffectual you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out 5 at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices 10 every morning, and your tithes after three years: and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. 15 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I 20 caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not 25 returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner Prepare to of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the meet thy sword, and have taken away your horses; and I God have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, s saith the LORD. I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: 10 and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places 15 of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name. * Hear ye this word which I take up against you, The virgin of Israel is fallen; She is forsaken upon her land; 20 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and 25 that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel, For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, |