The Women of Samaria
The Lord said:
1 You women of Samaria
are fat cows!
You mistreat and abuse
the poor and needy,
then you say to your husbands,
“Bring us more drinks!”
2 I, the Lord God, have sworn
by my own name
that your time is coming.
Not one of you will be left—
you will be taken away
by sharp hooks.
3 You will be dragged through holes
in your city walls,
and you will be thrown
toward Harmon.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Israel Refuses To Obey
The Lord said:
4 Come to Bethel and Gilgal.
Sin all you want!
Offer sacrifices the next morning
and bring a tenth of your crops
on the third day.
5 Bring offerings to show me
how thankful you are.
Gladly bring more offerings
than I have demanded.
You really love to do this.
I, the Lord God, have spoken!
How the Lord Warned Israel
6 I, the Lord, took away the food
from every town and village,
but still you rejected me.
7 Three months before harvest,
I kept back the rain.
Sometimes I would let it fall
on one town or field
but not on another,
and pastures dried up.
8 People from two or three towns
would go to a town
that still had water,
but it wasn't enough.
Even then you rejected me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
9 I dried up your grain fields;
your gardens and vineyards
turned brown.
Locusts ate your fig trees
and olive orchards,
but even then you rejected me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
10 I did terrible things to you,
just as I did to Egypt—
I killed your young men in war;
I let your horses be stolen,
and I made your camp stink
with dead bodies.
Even then you rejected me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
11 I destroyed many of you,
just as I did the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were a burning stick
I rescued from the fire.
But even then you rejected me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
12 Now, Israel, I myself
will deal with you.
Get ready to face your God!
13 I created the mountains
and the wind.
I let humans know
what I am thinking.
I bring darkness at dawn
and step over hills.
I am the Lord God All-Powerful!
1 Listen to this, you women of Samaria, who grow fat like the well-fed cows of Bashan, who mistreat the weak, oppress the poor, and demand that your husbands keep you supplied with liquor! 2 As the Sovereign Lord is holy, he has promised, “The days will come when they will drag you away with hooks; every one of you will be like a fish on a hook. 3 You will be dragged to the nearest break in the wall and thrown out.”
Israel's Failure to Learn
4 The Sovereign Lord says, “People of Israel, go to the holy place in Bethel and sin, if you must! Go to Gilgal and sin with all your might! Go ahead and bring animals to be sacrificed morning after morning, and bring your tithes every third day. 5 Go on and offer your bread in thanksgiving to God, and brag about the extra offerings you bring! This is the kind of thing you love to do.
6 “I was the one who brought famine to all your cities, yet you did not come back to me. 7 I kept it from raining when your crops needed it most. I sent rain on one city, but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field dried up. 8 Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.
9 “I sent a scorching wind to dry up your crops. The locusts ate up all your gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees. Still you did not come back to me.
10 “I sent a plague on you like the one I sent on Egypt. I killed your young men in battle and took your horses away. I filled your nostrils with the stink of dead bodies in your camps. Still you did not come back to me.
11 “I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like a burning stick saved from a fire. Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord. 12 “So then, people of Israel, I am going to punish you. And because I am going to do this, get ready to face my judgment!”
13 God is the one who made the mountains
and created the winds.
He makes his thoughts known to people;
he changes day into night.
He walks on the heights of the earth.
This is his name: the Lord God Almighty!