LORD:
For three transgressions of Edom,
For four, I will not revoke it:
Because he pursued his brother with the sword
And repressed all pity,
Because his anger raged unceasing
And his fury stormedi unchecked.
12I will send down fire upon Teman,
And it shall devour the fortresses of Bozrah.
13Thus said the LORD:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
For four, I will not revoke it:
Because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
In order to enlarge their own territory.
14I will set fire to the wall of Rabbah,
And it shall devour its fortresses,
Amid shouting on a day of battle,
On a day of violent tempest.
15Their king and his officers shall go
Into exile together
—said the LORD.
2
Thus said the LORD:
For three transgressions of Moab,
For four, I will not revoke it:
Because he burned the bones
Of the king of Edom to lime.
2I will send down fire upon Moab,
And it shall devour the fortresses of Kerioth.
And Moab shall die in tumult,
Amid shouting and the blare of horns;
3I will wipe out the ruler from within her
And slay all her officials along with him
—said the LORD.
4Thus said the LORD:
For three transgressions of Judah,
For four, I will not revoke it:
Because they have spurned the Teaching of the LORD
And have not observed His laws;
They are beguiled by the delusions
After which their fathers walked.
5I will send down fire upon Judah,
And it shall devour the fortresses of Jerusalem.
6Thus said the LORD:
For three transgressions of Israel,
For four, I will not revoke it:
Because they have sold for silver
Those whose cause was just,
And the needy for a pair of sandals.
7[Ah,] you a-who trample the heads of the poor
Into the dust of the ground,
And make the humble walk a twisted course!-a
Father and son go to the same girl,
And thereby profane My holy name.
8They recline by every altar
On garments taken in pledge,
And drink in the House of their God
Wine bought with fines they imposed.
9Yet I
Destroyed the Amorite before them,
Whose stature was like the cedar’s
And who was stout as the oak,
Destroying his boughs above
And his trunk below!
10And I
Brought you up from the land of Egypt
And led you through the wilderness forty years,
To possess the land of the Amorite!
11And I raised up prophets from among your sons
And nazirites from among your young men.
Is that not so, O people of Israel?
—says the LORD.
12But you made the nazirites drink wine
And ordered the prophets not to prophesy.
13b-Ah, I will slow your movements
As a wagon is slowed
When it is full of cut grain.-b
14Flight shall fail the swift,
The strong shall find no strength,
And the warrior shall not save his life.
15The bowman shall not hold his ground,
And the fleet-footed shall not escape,
Nor the horseman save his life.
16Even the most stouthearted warrior
Shall run away unarmedc that day
— declares the LORD.
3
Hear this word, O people of Israel,
That the LORD has spoken concerning you,
Concerning the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2You alone have I singled out
Of all the families of the earth—
That is why I will call you to account
For all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together
Without having met?
4Does a lion roar in the forest
When he has no prey?
Does a great beast let out a cry from its den
Without having made a capture?
5Does a bird drop on the ground—in a trap—
With no snare there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
Unless it has caught something?
6When a ram’s horn is sounded in a town,
Do the people not take alarm?
Can misfortune come to a town
If the LORD has not caused it?
7Indeed, my Lord GOD does nothing
Without having revealed His purpose
To His servants the prophets.
8A lion has roared,
Who can but fear?
My Lord GOD has spoken,
Who can but prophesy?
9Proclaim in the fortresses of Ashdoda
And in the fortresses of the land of Egypt!
Say:
Gather on the hillb of Samaria
And witness the great outrages within her
And the oppression in her midst.
10They are incapable of doing right
—declares the LORD;
They store up lawlessness and rapine
In their fortresses.
11Assuredly,
Thus said my Lord GOD:
An enemy, all about the land!
He shall strip you of your splendor,
And your fortresses shall be plundered.
12Thus said the LORD:
As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s jaws
Two shank bones or the tip of an ear,
So shall the Israelites escape
Who dwell in Samaria—
With the legc of a bed or the headc of a couch.
13Hear [this], and warn the House of Jacob
—says my Lord GOD, the God of Hosts—
14That when I punish Israel for its transgressions,
I will wreak judgment on the altard of Bethel,
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And shall fall to the ground.
15I will wreck the winter palace
Together with the summer palace;
The ivory palaces shall be demolished,
And the great houses shall be destroyed
— declares the LORD.
4
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
On the hill of Samaria—
Who defraud the poor,
Who rob the needy;
Who say to youra husbands,
“Bring, and let’s carouse!”
2My Lord GOD swears by His holiness:
Behold, days are coming upon you
b-When you will be carried off in baskets,
And, to the last one, in fish baskets,
3And taken out [of the city]—
Each one through a breach straight ahead—
And flung on the refuse heap-b
— declares the LORD.
4Come to Bethel and transgress;
To Gilgal, and transgress even more:
Present your sacrifices the next morning
And your tithes on the third day;
5And burn a thank offering of leavened bread;c
And proclaim freewill offerings loudly.
For you love that sort of thing, O Israelites
—declares my Lord GOD.
6I, on My part, have given you
Cleanness of teeth in all your towns,
And lack of food in all your settlements.
Yet you did not turn back to Me
— declares the LORD.
7I therefore withheld the rain from you
Three months before harvesttime:
I would make it rain on one town
And not on another;
One field would be rained upon
While another on which it did not rain
Would wither.
8So two or three towns would wander
To a single town to drink water,
But their thirst would not be slaked.
Yet you did not turn back to Me
— declares the LORD.
9I scourged you with blight and mildew;
Repeatedlyb your gardens and vineyards,
Your fig trees and olive trees
Were devoured by locusts.
Yet you did not turn back to Me
— declares the LORD.
10I sent against you pestilence
In the manner of Egypt;d
I slew your young men with the sword,
Together with your captured horses,
And I made the stench of your armies
Rise in your very nostrils.
Yet you did not turn back to Me
— declares the LORD.
11I have wrought destruction among you
As when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah;
You have become like a brand plucked from burning.
Yet you have not turned back to Me
— declares the LORD.
12Assuredly,
e-Because I am doing that to you,-e
Even so will I act toward you, O Israel—
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
13Behold,
He who formed the mountains,
And created the wind,
And has told man what His wishb is,
Who turns blacknessf into daybreak,
And treads upon the high places of the earth—
His name is the LORD, the God of Hosts.
5
Hear this word which I intone
As a dirge over you, O House of Israel:
2Fallen, not to rise again,
Is Maiden Israel;
Abandoned on her soil
With none to lift her up.
3For thus said my Lord GOD
About the House of Israel:
The town that marches out a thousand strong
Shall have a hundred left,
And the one that marches out a hundred strong
Shall have but ten left.
4Thus said the LORD
To the House of Israel:
Seek Me, and you will live.
5Do not seek Bethel,
Nor go to Gilgal,
Nor cross overa to Beer-sheba;
For Gilgal shall go into exile,
And Bethel shall become a delusion.
6Seek the LORD, and you will live,
b-Else He will rush like fire upon-b the House of Joseph
And consume Bethelc with none to quench it.
7[Ah,] you who turn justice into wormwood
And hurl righteousness to the ground!
[Seek the LORD,]
8Who made the Pleiades and Orion,
Who turns deep darkness into dawn
And darkens day into night,
Who summons the waters of the sea
And pours them out upon the earth—
His name is the LORD!
9 b-It is He who hurls destruction upon strongholds,
So that ruin comes upon fortresses!-b
10They hate the arbiter in the gate,
And detest him whose plea is just.
11Assuredly,
Because you b-impose a tax-b on the poor
And exact from him a levy of grain,
You have built houses of hewn stone,
But you shall not live in them;
You have planted delightful vineyards,
But shall not drink their wine.
12For I have noted how many are your crimes,
And how countless your sins—
You enemies of the righteous,
You takers of bribes,
You who subvert in the gate
The cause of the needy!
13Assuredly,
At such a time the prudent man keeps silent,
For it is an evil time.
14Seek good and not evil,
That you may live,
And that the LORD, the God of Hosts,
May truly be with you,
As you think.
15Hate evil and love good,
And establish justice in the gate;
Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts,
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16Assuredly,
Thus said the LORD,
My Lord, the God of Hosts:
In every square there shall be lamenting,
In every street cries of “Ah, woe!”
And the farm hand shall be
Called to mourn,
And those skilled in wailing
To lament;
17For there shall be lamenting
In every vineyard, too,
When I pass through your midst
—said the LORD.
18Ah, you who wish
For the day of the LORD!
Why should you want
The day of the LORD?
It shall be darkness, not light!
19—As if a man should run from a lion
And be attacked by a bear;
Or if he got indoors,
Should lean his hand on the wall
And be bitten by a snake!
20Surely the day of the LORD shall be
Not light, but darkness,
Blackest night without a glimmer.
21I loathe, I spurn your festivals,
I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies.
22If you offer Me burnt offerings—or your meal offerings—
I will not accept them;
I will pay no heed
To your gifts of fatlings.
23Spare Me the sound of your hymns,
And let Me not hear the music of your lutes.
24But let justice well up like water,
Righteousness like an unfailing stream.
25Did you offer sacrifice and oblation to Me
Those forty years in the wilderness,
O House of Israel?
26dAnd you shall carry off your “king”—
Sikkuthe and Kiyyun,e
The images you have made for yourselves
Of your astral deity—
27As I drive you into exile beyond Damascus
—Said the