Study Desk

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan^(a) on Mount Samaria,^(b) you women who oppress the poor^(c) and crush the needy^(d) and say to your husbands,^(e) "Bring us some drinks!^(f)"

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: "The time^(g) will surely come when you will be taken away^(h) with hooks,⁽ⁱ⁾ the last of you with fishhooks.^[a]

You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall,^(j) and you will be cast out toward Harmon,^[b]" declares the Lord .

"Go to Bethel^(k) and sin; go to Gilgal^(l) and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning,^(m) your tithes⁽ⁿ⁾ every three years.^[c](o)

Burn leavened bread^(p) as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings^(q)— boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do," declares the Sovereign Lord .

"I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord .^(r)

"I also withheld^(s) rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.^(t) One field had rain; another had none and dried up.

People staggered from town to town for water^(u) but did not get enough^(v) to drink, yet you have not returned^(w) to me," declares the Lord .^(x)

"Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew.^(y) Locusts^(z) devoured your fig and olive trees,^(aa) yet you have not returned^(ab) to me," declares the Lord .

"I sent plagues^(ac) among you as I did to Egypt.^(ad) I killed your young men^(ae) with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench^(af) of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,"^(ag) declares the Lord .^(ah)

"I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^(ai) You were like a burning stick^(aj) snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord .^(ak)

"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God."

He who forms the mountains,^(al) who creates the wind,^(am) and who reveals his thoughts^(an) to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth^(ao)— the Lord God Almighty is his name.^(ap)

A Lament and Call to Repentance

Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(a) I take up concerning you:

"Fallen is Virgin^(b) Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.^(c)"

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: "Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.^(d)"

This is what the Lord says to Israel: "Seek^(e) me and live;^(f)

do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal,^(g) do not journey to Beersheba.^(h) For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a](i)"

Seek^(j) the Lord and live,^(k) or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(l) it will devour them, and Bethel^(m) will have no one to quench it.⁽ⁿ⁾

There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(o) and cast righteousness^(p) to the ground.^(q)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(r) who turns midnight into dawn^(s) and darkens day into night,^(t) who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.^(u)

With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(v)

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(w) and detest the one who tells the truth.^(x)

You levy a straw tax on the poor^(y) and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(z) you will not live in them;^(aa) though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.^(ab)

For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.^(ac) There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(ad) and deprive the poor^(ae) of justice in the courts.^(af)

Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(ag) in such times, for the times are evil.^(ah)

Seek good, not evil, that you may live.^(ai) Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

Hate evil,^(aj) love good;^(ak) maintain justice in the courts.^(al) Perhaps^(am) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(an) on the remnant^(ao) of Joseph.

Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says: "There will be wailing^(ap) in all the streets^(aq) and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers^(ar) will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.

There will be wailing^(as) in all the vineyards, for I will pass through^(at) your midst," says the Lord .^(au)

Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord !^(av) Why do you long for the day of the Lord ?^(aw) That day will be darkness,^(ax) not light.^(ay)

It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear,^(az) as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.^(ba)

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(bb) not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(bc)

"I hate,^(bd) I despise your religious festivals;^(be) your assemblies^(bf) are a stench to me.

Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(bg) and grain offerings, I will not accept them.^(bh) Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.^(bi)

Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(bj)

But let justice^(bk) roll on like a river, righteousness^(bl) like a never-failing stream!^(bm)

"Did you bring me sacrifices^(bn) and offerings forty years^(bo) in the wilderness, people of Israel?

You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols,^(bp) the star of your god^[b]— which you made for yourselves.

Therefore I will send you into exile^(bq) beyond Damascus," says the Lord , whose name is God Almighty.^(br)

Woe to you^(a) who are complacent^(b) in Zion, and to you who feel secure^(c) on Mount Samaria,^(d) you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!^(e)

Go to Kalneh^(f) and look at it; go from there to great Hamath,^(g) and then go down to Gath^(h) in Philistia. Are they better off than⁽ⁱ⁾ your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?

You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror.^(j)

You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches.^(k) You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.^(l)

You strum away on your harps^(m) like David and improvise on musical instruments.⁽ⁿ⁾

You drink wine^(o) by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve^(p) over the ruin of Joseph.^(q)

Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;^(r) your feasting and lounging will end.^(s)

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself^(t)—the Lord God Almighty declares: "I abhor^(u) the pride of Jacob^(v) and detest his fortresses;^(w) I will deliver up^(x) the city and everything in it.^(y)"

If ten^(z) people are left in one house, they too will die.

And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them^[a](aa) asks anyone who might be hiding there, "Is anyone else with you?" and he says, "No," then he will go on to say, "Hush!^(ab) We must not mention the name of the Lord ."

For the Lord has given the command, and he will smash^(ac) the great house^(ad) into pieces and the small house into bits.^(ae)

Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea^[b] with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison^(af) and the fruit of righteousness^(ag) into bitterness^(ah)—

you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar^[c] and say, "Did we not take Karnaim^[d] by our own strength?^(ai)"

For the Lord God Almighty declares, "I will stir up a nation^(aj) against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath^(ak) to the valley of the Arabah.^(al)"