Israel Will Not Return
4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan on the Mountain of Samaria [C mocking the wealthy women of Samaria].
You ·take things from [oppress] the poor
and crush people who are in need.
Then you command your husbands,
“Bring us something to drink!”
2 The Lord God has ·promised [sworn] this:
“Just as surely as I am a holy God,
the time will come
when you will be taken away ·by hooks [or in baskets],
and what is left of you with fishhooks.
3 You will go straight out of the city
through ·holes [breaches] in the walls,
and you will be thrown ·on the garbage dump [on the dung heap; or out toward Harmon],” says the Lord.
4 “Come to the city of Bethel and ·sin [rebel; transgress];
come to Gilgal and ·sin [rebel; transgress] even more [C Bethel and Gilgal were important worship centers in Israel].
Offer your sacrifices every morning,
and bring ·one-tenth of your crops [your tithes] every three days.
5 Offer bread made with yeast as a sacrifice to show your thanks,
and ·brag about [publicly announce] the ·special [voluntary; freewill] offerings you bring,
because this is what you love to do, ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel],” says the Lord God.
6 “I ·did not give you any food [L gave you cleanness of teeth; C an idiom meaning “empty stomachs” and indicating starvation] in your cities,
and there was not enough to eat in any of your towns,
but you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
7 “I held back the rain from you
three months before harvest time.
Then I let it rain on one city
but not on another.
Rain fell on one field,
but another field got none and dried up.
8 ·People weak from thirst went from town to town [L Two or three cities wandered to one] for water,
but they could not get enough to drink.
Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
9 “I ·made your crops die from [L struck you with] ·disease [blight] and mildew.
When your gardens and your vineyards got larger,
locusts ·ate [devoured] your fig and olive trees.
But still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
10 “I sent ·disasters [a plague/pestilence] against you,
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with swords,
and your horses were taken from you.
I made ·you smell the stink from all the dead bodies [L the stench of your camp rise into your nostrils],
but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
11 “I ·destroyed [overthrew] some of you
as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah [Gen. 19].
You were like a burning stick pulled from a fire,
but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
12 “So this is what I will do to you, Israel;
because I will do this to you,
get ready to meet your God, Israel.”
13 [L For look/T behold] He is the one who ·makes [forms] the mountains
and creates the wind
and makes his thoughts known to people.
He changes the dawn into darkness
and ·walks [treads; marches] ·over the mountains [on the heights] of the earth.
His name is the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].