Study Desk

The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The Lord will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.

They spout empty words and make covenants they don't intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer's field.

The people of Samaria tremble in fear for their calf idol at Beth-aven, and they mourn for it. Though its priests rejoice over it, its glory will be stripped away.

Samaria and its king will be cut off; they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.

And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel's sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, "Bury us!" and plead with the hills, "Fall on us!"

"But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria.

Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again," says the Lord .

The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

But the people of Gilead are worthless because of their idol worship. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field.

Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob's descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.

Now they continue to sin by making silver idols, images shaped skillfully with human hands. "Sacrifice to these," they cry, "and kiss the calf idols!"

Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind—a blast from the Lord — will arise in the desert. All their flowing springs will run dry, and all their wells will disappear. Every precious thing they own will be plundered and carried away.

My people will again live under my shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.

How the animals moan with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.

The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank.

They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows.

The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.

The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?

They threw dice to decide which of my people would be their slaves. They traded boys to obtain prostitutes and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.

You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.