Hosea 4 Cross References - LEB

¹ Hear the word of Yahweh, O children of Israel, for Yahweh has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, there is no knowledge of God in the land. ² Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out,* and bloodshed follows bloodshed. ³ Therefore the land mourns, and all those living in it languish with the animals of the field, and the birds of the heaven, and even the fish of the sea are being swept away. ⁴ Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, is my contention.* ⁵ You will stumble by day, and the priest also will stumble with you at night. And I will destroy your mother; ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me.* And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.* ⁷ When they became many, their sin increased against me; they changed* their glory into shame. ⁸ _⌊They feed on the sin of my people_⌋,* _⌊they are greedy_⌋* for their iniquity. ⁹ And it will be like people, like priest; I will punish them* for their* ways, and I will requite them* for their* deeds. ¹⁰ They will eat and not be satisfied; they will play the whore and not multiply, because they have forsaken Yahweh _⌊to devote themselves to ¹¹ whoredom_⌋.* Wine and new wine _⌊take away the understanding_⌋.* ¹² My people, consult _⌊their wooden idols_⌋,* and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led them astray, and they played the whore from under their God.* ¹³ On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their* shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and all your daughters-in-law* commit adultery. ¹⁴ _⌊I will not punish your daughters_⌋* when they play the whore, or your daughters-in-law* when they commit adultery; because they go aside with whores, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes, a people that does not understand comes to ruin. ¹⁵ Even though you, O Israel, are playing the whore, do not let Judah become guilty; do not enter Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven; and do not swear, "_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋!"* ¹⁶ Indeed, like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; Now Yahweh will feed them, like a lamb in broad pasture.* ¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. ¹⁸ When their drinking has ended, they surely indulge in sexual orgies. They love lewdness more than their* glory. ¹⁹ A wind has wrapped them* in its wings, and they will be ashamed because of their altars.

¹⁹ And he* said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah!

¹⁸ "Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

¹³ Yahweh takes his stand to conduct a legal case and takes his stand to judge the peoples. ¹⁴ Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders of his people and its princes. "And you! You have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses!

³ And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men* of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery, rulers of these people in Jerusalem:

¹ Come near, nations, to hear; and peoples, listen attentively! Let the earth hear, and that which fills it; the world and all its offspring.

⁸ For _⌊Yahweh has a day of vengeance_⌋,* a year of retribution for the strife of Zion.

¹³ transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning _⌊away from following_⌋* our God; speaking oppression and falsehood, conceiving and uttering words of deception from the heart. ¹⁴ And justice is pushed back, and righteousness stands afar; for truth stumbles in the public square, and straightforwardness is unable to enter, ¹⁵ and truth is missing, and he who turns aside from evil is plundered. And Yahweh saw, and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice

⁵ Hear the word of Yahweh, you who are frightened at his word:
Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for my name's sake have said, "Let Yahweh be honored so that* we may see your joy!" But* they themselves shall be ashamed.

⁴ Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the clans* of the house of Israel.

²² "For my people are foolish, they have not known me. They are foolish children, and they do not have insight. They are skillful at doing evil, and they do not know how to do good."

²⁸ Because of this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will become dark. Because I have spoken, I have planned, and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it."

⁴ Then I said, "They are just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law* of their God.

¹³ "For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, _⌊everyone_⌋* makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, _⌊everyone_⌋* practices deceit.

² "Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, those who enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh. ³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in _⌊the deceitful words_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* 'The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.' ⁵ For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,*

²⁸ "And you shall say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths.*

²⁰ For hear, O women, the word of Yahweh, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters a lamentation, and each woman her neighbor a lament.

³ And you shall say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I am about to bring disaster upon this place so that _⌊everyone who hears it_⌋,* his ears will ring.

³¹ The rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth, for there is a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations. He is entering into judgment with all wicked flesh, he will give them to the sword,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

⁴ However, hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Thus says Yahweh concerning you: 'You will not die by the sword.

¹ Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! Because the judgment applies to you; because you have been a snare for Mizpah, and a net spread out on Tabor;

² Yahweh has a quarrel* with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

¹⁶ And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, 'You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!'

² Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends.

² The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind. All of them lie in wait; each hunts his brother with a net. ³ Their hands are upon evil, to do it well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave it together. ⁴ The best of them is like a brier; the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come; now their confusion will come. ⁵ Do not put faith in a friend; put no trust in a close friend. Guard the doorways of your mouth from the one who lies in your lap.

⁵⁵ And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you! But I know him and I keep his word.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit _⌊to recognize God_⌋*, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things that are not proper,

³⁴ Sober up correctly and _⌊stop sinning_⌋*, for some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame.

¹¹ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.'

²⁹ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

⁵ and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes;* they have broken the everlasting covenant.

¹ Hear this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and came out from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Yahweh, and _⌊invoke_⌋* the God of Israel, but not in truth and not in righteousness.

² Rather, your iniquities have been _⌊barriers_⌋* between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing. ³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness. ⁴ There is nobody _⌊who pleads with_⌋* justice, and there is nobody who judges with honesty. They rely on nothing and speak vanity. They conceive trouble and beget iniquity; ⁵ they hatch viper eggs, and they weave a spider web. One who eats their eggs dies, and that which is pressed is hatched as a serpent. ⁶ Their webs cannot become clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds* of violence are in their hands. ⁷ Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; devastation and destruction are in their highways. ⁸ They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their firm paths. They have made their paths crooked for themselves; everyone _⌊who walks_⌋* in it knows no peace.

¹² For our transgressions are numerous before you, and our sins _⌊testify_⌋* against us. Indeed, our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:

¹ "Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and look please, and take note, and search at its public squares, if you can find a person who does justice, who seeks honesty, so that I may forgive it. ² And though they say, '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,'* _⌊therefore_⌋* they swear falsely."

⁷ "_⌊How_⌋* can I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me, and they have sworn by those who are not gods. But I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and flocked to the house of a prostitute. ⁸ They were well-fed lusty horses, they neighed each to the wife of his neighbor. ⁹ Because of these things shall I not punish?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?

²⁶ For wicked people are found among my people, they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers, they set up a trap, they catch humans. ²⁷ Like a cage full of birds,* so their houses are full of fraud. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they have become great, and they have become rich.

⁷ As a water well keeps its water cool, so she keeps cool her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard within her, sickness and wounds* are continually _⌊before me_⌋.*

⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,* ⁷ then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors* _⌊forever and ever_⌋.* ⁸ Look, you are relying for yourselves on _⌊deceitful words_⌋* without benefiting. ⁹ Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear _⌊falsely_⌋?* And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? ¹⁰ And then you come and you stand _⌊before_⌋* me in this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* and you say, 'we are safe _⌊to go on doing_⌋* all of these detestable things.'

² _⌊Oh that I had_⌋* in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors. ³ And they bend their tongue like their bow, for falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth* from evil to evil, and they do not know me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴ "Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor, and you must not trust in any brother, for everyone surely betrays, and every neighbor goes about with slander. ⁵ And everyone deceives his neighbor, and they do not speak the truth, they have taught their tongues* to speak lies,* they are tired from going astray. ⁶ Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, upon* deceit they refuse to know me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Look, I am about to refine them, and I will test them, for what else can I do, because of the _⌊presence_⌋* of the daughter of my people? ⁸ Their tongue is a murderous arrow, it speaks deceit. With his mouth he speaks peace with his neighbor, but in his inner parts he sets up his ambush.

¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; for the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the desert* are dry, and their evil has been their way of running, and their power is not right. ¹¹ "For both prophet as well as priest are godless, even in my temple I have found their wickedness," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹² "_⌊Therefore_⌋* their way will be to them like the slippery places, they will be pushed in the darkness, and they will fall into it, for I will bring disaster on them in the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹³ "Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing. They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err. ¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,* and they make strong the hands of evildoers, so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."

¹³ Because of the sins of her prophets, the guilt of her priests, who shed blood in her midst, of righteous people.

² "And you, son of man,* will you judge? Will you judge the _⌊bloody city_⌋?* Then you must make known to her all of her detestable things! ³ And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; _⌊its time has come_⌋,* and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. ⁴ By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, _⌊and your appointed years have come_⌋.* Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries. ⁵ The people near and the people far from you will make fun of you, _⌊the unclean and the terrified_⌋.* ⁶ Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,* they are in you _⌊for the shedding of blood_⌋.* ⁷ They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; _⌊they violated_⌋* the alien with* extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow. ⁸ You despised my holy objects; my Sabbaths you profaned. ⁹ Slanderous men are _⌊among you_⌋* to shed blood, and they, _⌊among you_⌋,* eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. ¹⁰ They uncover the nakedness of a father among* you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among* you. ¹¹ And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among* you his sister, the daughter of his father. ¹² They take a bribe among* you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain from your neighbors by extortion, and so you have forgotten me, _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹³ And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you.

²⁵ The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. ²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. ²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken. ²⁹ They severely oppress the people of the land, and _⌊they committed robbery_⌋,* and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien _⌊without_⌋* justice. ³⁰ And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach _⌊before me_⌋* on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone,

² they dug a deep pit* in Shittim, but I am a punishment for all of them.

⁹ Like bandits lying in wait, so is a band of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem; indeed, they commit a monstrous crime.

¹ when I would heal Israel, and the corruption of Ephraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; because they deal in falsehood, the thief breaks in,* and the bandit raids the outside.

³ By their wickedness they make the king glad, and the officials by their treacheries.

⁴ They utter words of vain oaths when _⌊making covenants_⌋,* and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant on the furrows of the field.

¹⁴ Ephraim has caused bitter provocation, and his Lord will _⌊hold him responsible for his crimes_⌋* and pay back to him his insults.

¹ Woe to those who plan wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds! In the light of the morning they did it, because they have power in their hands. ² They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and they take them away. They oppress a man and his house; a man and his inheritance. ³ Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.

² Those of you who are haters of good and lovers of evil, who tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones,

⁹ Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that is right,

¹⁰ Is there any longer a man in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, and the ephah of scarcity which is accursed?*

² The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind. All of them lie in wait; each hunts his brother with a net.

¹ Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one! The oppressing city!

³ And he said to me, "This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished* according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it.

⁹ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge with trustworthy justice, and show* steadfast love and compassion _⌊to one another_⌋.*

³⁵ so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who persecuted us, and who are not pleasing to God and are opposed to all people,

⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
And _⌊I was greatly astonished when I saw her_⌋*.

⁴ The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, ⁵ and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes;* they have broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and _⌊few men are left_⌋.* ⁷ The new wine dries up; the vine languishes. All the merry of heart sigh; ⁸ the joy of the tambourine has stopped. The noise of the jubilant has ceased; the joy of the lyre has stopped. ⁹ They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. ¹⁰ The city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut _⌊so that no one can enter_⌋;* ¹¹ there is an outcry over the wine in the streets. All joy turns into _⌊darkness_⌋;* the joy of the earth disappears. ¹² Desolation is left in the city; the gate is crushed into a state of ruin.

⁹ The land mourns; it languishes. Lebanon feels abashed; it withers. Sharon is like the desert, and Bashan and Carmel _⌊are losing their leaves_⌋.*

²⁵ I looked and behold, there was no person, and all of the birds* of the sky had fled.

²⁷ For thus says Yahweh, "All of the land will be a desolation, yet I will not make a complete desolation. ²⁸ Because of this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will become dark. Because I have spoken, I have planned, and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it."

⁴ _⌊How long_⌋* will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up, because of the wickedness of those who live in it? The animals and the birds* are swept away, because they have said, "He does not see our future."

²⁰ And the fish of the sea and the birds* of the heaven* and the animals* of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans* who are on the surface of the earth will shake _⌊at my presence_⌋;* and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on* the earth will fall.

¹⁰ The field is destroyed; the earth mourns because the grain is destroyed, the new wine dries up, the olive oil languishes. ¹¹ Be ashamed, farmers; Wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field is ruined. ¹² The vine withers and the fig tree droops. The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree —all the trees of the field—are dried up. Indeed, joy is dried up among the sons of men. ¹³ Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

² And he said, "Yahweh roars from Zion and he utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither and the top of Carmel dries up."

¹⁶ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all of the public squares there will be wailing, and in all of the streets they will say, 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing, to those who are skilled in lamentation.

⁸ On account of this, will not the land tremble and will not every living thing in it mourn? And all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt.

⁴ He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither;* the blossom of Lebanon languishes.

³ "I will destroy humanity and beast; I will destroy the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks* with the wicked. And I will cut off humankind from the face of the earth"—a declaration of Yahweh.

¹² And the man who treats with contempt* so as not to listen to the priest who is standing to minister on behalf of Yahweh your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

¹⁸ Then they said, "Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from the priest, nor advice from the wise man, nor the word from the prophet. Come and _⌊let us bring charges against him_⌋,* and let us not listen attentively to any of his words."

²⁶ And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silenced, and you will not be a reproving man for them, for they _⌊are a rebellious house_⌋.*

¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

¹³ Therefore, whoever has insight will keep silent in that time, for it is a time of evil.

¹⁰ And if one's relative, who burns the body, lifts it up and brings the body out of the house and he will say to someone in the innermost part of the house, "Are there any more with you?" and he will say, "None," then he will say, "Silence," because we must not invoke the name of Yahweh.

³ And why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam of wood in your own eye? ⁴ Or how will you say to your brother, 'Allow me to remove the speck from your eye,' and behold, the beam of wood is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye! ⁶ "Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around and* tear you to pieces.

¹³ And the people did not turn to the one who struck it,* and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts. ¹⁴ So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in one day. ¹⁵ Elders* and _⌊the respectable_⌋* are the head, and prophets* who teach lies* are the tail. ¹⁶ And the leaders of this people were misleading them, and those who were led were confused. ¹⁷ Therefore the Lord did not rejoice over its young men, and he did not have compassion on its orphans and widows, for everyone was godless and an evildoer, and every mouth was speaking folly. In all of this his anger did not turn away, and still his hand is stretched out.

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Where is this divorce document of your mother's divorce, with which I dismissed her? or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Look! you were sold because of your sin, and your mother was dismissed because of your transgressions.

⁴ _⌊Sanctify_⌋* war against her. Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day turns, for the shadows of evening are lengthened. ⁵ Arise, and let us attack by night, and let us destroy her citadel fortresses."

¹² And their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together. For I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹³ "For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, _⌊everyone_⌋* makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, _⌊everyone_⌋* practices deceit. ¹⁴ And they have treated the wound of my people lightly, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace. ¹⁵ Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing? Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall at the time I punish them, they will stumble," says Yahweh.

¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit. ¹¹ And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace. ¹² Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse,* they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

¹⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they are saying, "Sword and famine will not be in this land." "By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish. ¹⁶ And the people to whom they are prophesying will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem _⌊because of_⌋* the famine and the sword. And there will be no one who buries them, their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. And I will pour out on them their wickedness.

⁸ Their widows* will be more numerous before me than the sand of the seas. I have brought to them, against the mothers* of young men,* a destroyer at noon. I will suddenly drop on her anguish and horror.*

⁹ Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken in my midst. All my bones tremble. I have become like a drunken man, even like a man over whom wine has passed, because of Yahweh, and because of _⌊his holy words_⌋.*

¹² your mother will be very ashamed. She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.* Look, she will be the least of the nations, a desert,* dry land, and wilderness.*

⁹ "And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into* the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁰ Because, yes, because they led my people astray, _⌊saying_⌋* 'Peace!' And there is not peace. And when anyone* builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. ¹¹ Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be _⌊a torrent of rain_⌋,* and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! * And a _⌊windstorm_⌋* will burst forth! ¹² And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?' ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And so I will let burst forth a _⌊windstorm_⌋* in my rage, and _⌊there will be a torrent of rain_⌋* in my anger, and hailstones in my rage _⌊for complete destruction_⌋.* ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! ¹⁵ And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, "_⌊The wall is no more_⌋,* and _⌊the people covering it are no more_⌋,* ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁷ For _⌊each person_⌋* from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself _⌊from following me_⌋* and brings up his idols into his heart and _⌊places before himself_⌋* a stumbling block of his guilt*, and yet he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer* him myself. ⁸ And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to* be a sign and make him into* the subject of proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I am Yahweh. ⁹ And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ And they will bear their guilt, like* the guilt of the inquirer so* the guilt of the prophet will be,

⁴⁴ Look! Everyone quoting a proverb* against you, he will quote, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Like her mother is her daughter!' ⁴⁵ You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.

² Plead with your mother, plead— because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her put away her whoring _⌊from before her_⌋,* and her adultery from between her breasts.

⁷ The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is acting like a madman. Because of the greatness of your sin, your hostility is great. ⁸ The prophet keeps watch over Ephraim for my God; the snare of a fowler is on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God.

⁵ Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading my people astray, who are biting with their teeth and proclaim, "Peace," but whoever puts nothing into their mouths they declare war against. ⁶ Therefore it will be as night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them. ⁷ Then the seers will be disgraced, and those practicing divination will be put to shame. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no reply from God.

⁸ And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for _⌊I grew impatient_⌋* with them, and _⌊they also became tired of me_⌋.*

² _⌊And then_⌋,* on that day,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land.

²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

¹² Now the sons of Eli were _⌊worthless scoundrels_⌋;* they did not know* Yahweh.

²⁸ And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor* all the offerings made by fire by the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ²⁹ Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel? ³⁰ Therefore,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor* would walk before me forever, but now,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! ³¹ Look, days are coming when I will cut off your _⌊strength_⌋* and the _⌊strength_⌋* of the house of your ancestor* _⌊so that no one in your house will live to old age_⌋.* ³² You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household _⌊forever_⌋!* ³³ The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you.* Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, _⌊all the members of your household_⌋* will die as men.* ³⁴ This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! ³⁵ But I will raise up for myself a reliable* priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting* house and he will walk continually before my anointed one _⌊forever_⌋.* ³⁶ All the remainder of your household will come to bow down _⌊before_⌋* him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, "Please assign me to one of the _⌊priestly offices_⌋* so that I can eat a morsel of bread." '"

¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, _⌊from beginning to end_⌋.* ¹³ I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves,* but he did not rebuke them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for* by sacrifice or by offering forever." ¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli.

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone. ¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced, ²⁰ so Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel and punished them, and he gave them into the hand of the plunderers until he banished them from his presence.

³ Now Israel has been without the true God many days, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

¹² But* if they do not listen, they perish by the sword, and they pass away without knowledge.

⁶¹ The cords of the wicked surround me, but I do not forget your law.

¹³⁹ My zeal consumes me, because my enemies have forgotten your words.

³⁰ they were not willing to accept my counsel, they despised all my reproof. ³¹ They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes, ³² for the waywardness of the simple ones will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

² Also, a life* without knowledge is not good, and he who moves quickly with his feet _⌊misses the mark_⌋.*

³ An ox knows its owner and a donkey the manger of its master. Israel does not know; my people do not understand.

¹² My people—children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading you, and they confuse the course of your paths.

¹³ Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge, and their* nobles* will be men of hunger, and their* multitude is parched with thirst.

¹⁰ For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have not remembered the rock of your refuge; therefore you plant plants of pleasantness, and you _⌊plant_⌋* a vine of a foreigner.

¹¹ _⌊When its branches are dry_⌋,* they are broken; women are coming and setting light to it.
For it is not a people of understanding;
therefore his maker will not have compassion on him, and his creator will not show him favor.

⁷ And these also stagger because of wine and stagger because of strong drink; priest and prophet stagger because of strong drink; they are confused* because of wine. They stagger because of strong drink; they err in vision. They stagger in the rendering of a decision,

²⁰ Assemble and come; draw near together, survivors of the nations! They do not know, those who carry _⌊their wooden idols_⌋* and pray to a god who cannot save.

¹⁰ His watchmen are blind, none of them know. They are all dumb dogs; they are unable to bark, panting, lying down, loving to slumber. ¹¹ And the dogs _⌊have a greedy appetite_⌋;* they _⌊are never satisfied_⌋.* And they are the shepherds! They do not have* understanding. They all turn to their own way, each one for his own gain, _⌊every one of them_⌋.* ¹² "Come, let me take wine, and let us carouse with intoxicating drink, and tomorrow will be like today, _⌊very great indeed_⌋."*

⁸ The priests did not say, 'Where is Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have _⌊rebelled against me_⌋,* and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after things which do not profit.

³ O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty? You have struck them, but they felt no pain, you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, they have refused to turn back. ⁴ Then I said, "They are just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law* of their God.

²¹ 'Hear this please, O foolish and _⌊senseless_⌋* people, _⌊who have eyes_⌋* but do not see, _⌊who have ears_⌋* but do not hear.'

⁷ Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time, and the turtledove, and the swallow, and the song bird, they observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the ordinance* of Yahweh. ⁸ How can you say, 'We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us'? Look, surely _⌊the lying stylus of the scribes_⌋* has made it a lie. ⁹ The wise will be put to shame, they will be dismayed, and they will get taken. Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, and what is wisdom to them?

¹³ _⌊I will punish her_⌋* for the days of the Baals, to whom she burns incense, and she decked herself with her ornamental ring and jewelry, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me —a declaration of Yahweh.

¹ Hear the word of Yahweh, O children of Israel, for Yahweh has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, there is no knowledge of God in the land.

¹² My people, consult _⌊their wooden idols_⌋,* and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led them astray, and they played the whore from under their God.*

⁶ Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

¹ Put to your lips the trumpet like a vulture over the house of Yahweh, because they have _⌊broken my covenant_⌋* and rebelled against my law.

¹² I write for him myriads of my instruction;* they are regarded as a strange thing.

¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire on his cities and it will devour her strongholds.

⁶ When I fed them,* they were satisfied; they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

⁸ And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for _⌊I grew impatient_⌋* with them, and _⌊they also became tired of me_⌋.* ⁹ So I said, "I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour _⌊the flesh of each other_⌋."*

¹⁵ And Yahweh said to me, "Take again the implements* of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,* he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the _⌊fattened ones_⌋* and tear apart even their hoofs. ¹⁷ "Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock!* May a sword fall on his arm and on _⌊his right eye_⌋!* May his arm wither completely and _⌊his right eye_⌋* be utterly blinded!"

¹ "And so then, O priests, this command is for you: ² If you will not listen, and if you will not _⌊take it to heart_⌋* to give glory to my name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because _⌊you are not taking it to heart_⌋.* ³ Look! I am going to rebuke _⌊your offspring_⌋,* and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.*

⁷ For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction* from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. ⁸ But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction;* you have ruined the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts. ⁹ "And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping* my way, but are _⌊favoring your own instruction_⌋."*

⁶ and Jesse became the father of David the king.
And David became the father of Solomon by the wife* of Uriah,

³ So he answered and* said to them, "Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, 'Honor your* father and your* mother,'* and 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother _⌊must certainly die_⌋*.'* ⁵ But you say, 'Whoever says to his* father or his* mother, "Whatever _⌊benefit you would have received_⌋* from me is a gift to God," ⁶ need not honor his father,'* and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

⁸ 'This people honors me with their* lips, but their heart is far, far away from me,

¹⁴ Let* them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."

⁴¹ They said to him, "He will destroy those evil men completely and lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruits in their season." ⁴² Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures,
'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋.* This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?* ⁴³ For this reason, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people* who produce its fruits. ⁴⁴ And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!" ⁴⁵ And when* the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them,

¹⁶ "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.'* ¹⁷ Fools and blind people! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.'* ¹⁹ Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? ²⁰ Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it. ²¹ And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. ²² And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it. ²³ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you pay a tenth of mint and dill and cumin, and neglect the more important matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness! It was necessary* to do these things _⌊while not neglecting those_⌋.* ²⁴ Blind guides who filter out a gnat and swallow a camel! ²⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence! ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish,* so that the outside of it may become clean also.

⁸ And they seized and* killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What* will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.

¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others." And when they* heard this,* they said, "May this never happen!" ¹⁷ But he looked intently at them and* said, "What then is this that is written:
'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋.'* ¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!"

³ But if indeed our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, ⁴ among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus* as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. ⁶ For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness,"* is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.*

³⁰ Therefore,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor* would walk before me forever, but now,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!

⁷ From the days of our ancestors* until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

²⁶ As the shame of a thief when he is caught in the act, so the house of Israel will be ashamed. They, their kings, their officials, and their priests, and their prophets. ²⁷ Those who say to the tree, 'You are my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their _⌊backs_⌋* to me, and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

¹⁰ They will eat and not be satisfied; they will play the whore and not multiply, because they have forsaken Yahweh _⌊to devote themselves to

¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine;* he yields fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he made numerous altars. The more his land prospered, the more he* improved* his stone pillars.

¹⁴ Should I redeem them from _⌊the power_⌋* of Sheol? * Should I deliver them from death? Where are your plagues, O Death? Where is your destruction, O Sheol?* Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁶ You will be sated with shame rather than glory. Drink also yourself, and expose yourself! The cup of the right hand of Yahweh will come around upon you and disgrace upon your glory.

⁹ "And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping* my way, but are _⌊favoring your own instruction_⌋."*

¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose God is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, the ones who think on earthly things.

²⁶ The priest _⌊who offers the sin offering_⌋* must eat it in a holy place—in the tent of assembly's courtyard.

⁶ Every male among the priests may eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place; it is _⌊a most holy thing_⌋.* ⁷ The instruction is _⌊the same for the guilt offering as for the sin offering_⌋;* _⌊it belongs to_⌋* the priest, who makes atonement with it.

²⁹ Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel?

⁴ He who is innocent of hands and pure of heart, who does not lift up his soul to falseness, and does not swear deceitfully.

¹ Of David.*
To you, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul.

¹¹ And the dogs _⌊have a greedy appetite_⌋;* they _⌊are never satisfied_⌋.* And they are the shepherds! They do not have* understanding. They all turn to their own way, each one for his own gain, _⌊every one of them_⌋.*

³ "Son of man,* these men took up their idols into their heart and _⌊they placed before themselves_⌋* a stumbling block of their guilt.* _⌊Should I really let myself be consulted by them_⌋?*

⁷ For _⌊each person_⌋* from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself _⌊from following me_⌋* and brings up his idols into his heart and _⌊places before himself_⌋* a stumbling block of his guilt*, and yet he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer* him myself.

¹¹ Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "Is not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us."

¹⁰ "Who also among you will shut the temple doors so that you will not kindle fire in vain on my altar? I take no pleasure in you," says Yahweh of hosts, "and _⌊I will not accept_⌋* an offering from your hand.

¹⁸ For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own stomach, and by smooth speech and flattery they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

¹¹ whom it is necessary to silence, whoever are ruining whole families by* teaching things which must not be taught for the sake of dishonest gain.

³ And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

¹⁷ Because he loved cursing, let it come upon him. Because he did not delight in blessing, let it be far from him. ¹⁸ Because he wore a curse as his robe, let it enter _⌊his body_⌋* like water, and into his bones like oil.

²² His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer, and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.

¹⁰ Tell the innocent* that it is good for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴ So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in one day. ¹⁵ Elders* and _⌊the respectable_⌋* are the head, and prophets* who teach lies* are the tail. ¹⁶ And the leaders of this people were misleading them, and those who were led were confused.

² And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends.

³¹ The prophets prophesy _⌊falsely_⌋,* and the priests rule _⌊by their own authority_⌋,* and my people love it* so much. But what will you do _⌊when the end comes_⌋?*

¹¹ "For both prophet as well as priest are godless, even in my temple I have found their wickedness," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹² "_⌊Therefore_⌋* their way will be to them like the slippery places, they will be pushed in the darkness, and they will fall into it, for I will bring disaster on them in the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁶ Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. ²⁸ And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken. ²⁹ They severely oppress the people of the land, and _⌊they committed robbery_⌋,* and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien _⌊without_⌋* justice. ³⁰ And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach _⌊before me_⌋* on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone, ³¹ and so I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁴ And Yahweh said to him, "_⌊Name him_⌋* Jezreel;* because in a little while _⌊I will punish_⌋* the house of Jehu* for the blood* of Jezreel,* and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.*

¹³ They offer sacrifices of my choice* and they eat flesh; Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.

⁹ _⌊They deeply corrupted themselves_⌋* as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their sin, he will punish their sins.

⁶ However, did not my words and my regulations which I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?* And they repented and said, 'Yahweh of hosts planned to do with us according to our ways, and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.'" '"

²⁶ At my breaking the _⌊supply_⌋* of bread* for you, then* ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight; and you shall eat it, and you shall not be satisfied.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them.

³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to have insight and to do good.

⁵ But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

²⁵ The righteous eats to satisfy his life,* but the belly of the wicked will lack.

¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"Look! My servants shall eat but* you, you shall be hungry. Look! My servants shall drink but* you, you shall be thirsty. Look! My servants shall rejoice but* you, you shall be ashamed. ¹⁴ Look! My servants shall shout _⌊for joy_⌋,* but* you, you shall cry out _⌊for pain_⌋* and howl _⌊for sadness_⌋.* ¹⁵ And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will _⌊give_⌋* his servants another name. ¹⁶ Whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of trustworthiness, and the one who swears an oath in the land shall swear by the God of trustworthiness, because the former troubles are forgotten, and they are hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ And you turned back _⌊recently_⌋* and you did right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor, and you _⌊made_⌋* a covenant _⌊before me_⌋* in the house that is called _⌊by_⌋* my name.

²⁴ And _⌊when the righteous turns_⌋* from his righteousness, so that* he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then* will he live because of all of his righteousness* that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his _⌊sin that he committed_⌋.* Through* them he shall die.

¹⁴ _⌊I will not punish your daughters_⌋* when they play the whore, or your daughters-in-law* when they commit adultery; because they go aside with whores, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes, a people that does not understand comes to ruin.

¹¹ Ephraim's glory is like a bird; it will fly away— no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. ¹² Even though they bring up their children, I will bereave them before maturity.* Woe to them indeed, when I depart from them! ¹³ Ephraim, as I see it, is like a palm in a meadow; but Ephraim must bring out his children to the slayer. ¹⁴ Give them, O Yahweh— what will you give them? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. ¹⁵ Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal, so I began to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels. ¹⁶ Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall not bear fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb. ¹⁷ My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will be wanderers among the nations.

¹⁴ You yourself will eat but not be satisfied; your hunger will be in your midst, and you will put away, but you will not save, and what you save I will hand over to the sword.

⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

⁶ You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without being satisfied; _⌊you have drunk without being satiated_⌋;* you have worn clothes without being warm; the one who earns wages puts it in _⌊a pouch with holes_⌋.'*

²⁰ For if, after they* have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord* and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. ²² The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit,"* and "A sow, after* washing herself, returns* to wallowing in the mud."*

³² He who commits adultery with a woman lacks _⌊sense_⌋,* he destroys himself* who does it.

¹ Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and any who go astray by it are not wise.

²⁷ For a deep pit is a prostitute,* and a narrow well is _⌊an adulteress_⌋.* ²⁸ She is also like a robber lying in wait, and the faithless among mankind she increases. ²⁹ To whom is woe? To whom is sorrow? To whom are quarrels? To whom is complaint? To whom are wounds without cause? To whom is redness of the eyes? ³⁰ To those who linger over wine, to those who come to try mixed wine. ³¹ Do not look at wine when it is red, when it _⌊sparkles_⌋* on the cup, going down smoothly. ³² _⌊In the end_⌋,* it will bite like a serpent, and it will sting like an adder. ³³ Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart* will speak perverse things. ³⁴ And you will be like him who lies down in the heart of the sea, and like him who lies down on top of a mast. ³⁵ "They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know it. When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again."

⁷ Surely oppression makes a fool of the wise, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

¹² And there will be lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts, but they do not look at the deeds* of Yahweh, and they do not see the work of his hands.

³⁴ "But take care for yourselves, lest your hearts are weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of daily life, and that day come upon you suddenly

¹¹ And do this because you* know the time, that it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we believed. ¹² The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near. Therefore let us throw off* the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. ¹³ Let us live decently, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.

⁷ And _⌊they may no longer sacrifice_⌋* their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is _⌊a lasting statute_⌋* for them _⌊throughout_⌋* their generations." '

⁵ then* I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech.

³⁹ You will have a tassel _⌊for you to look at_⌋* and remember all the commands of Yahweh and do them, and not follow _⌊after the unfaithfulness of your own heart and eyes_⌋,*

¹⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors,* and this people will arise and they* will play the prostitute after _⌊the foreign gods_⌋* of the land _⌊to which they are going_⌋.*

¹³ but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who were better than you,

²⁷ For indeed, those distancing themselves from you will be ruined. You destroy each who abandons you for harlotry.

¹⁸ They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes are besmeared _⌊so that they cannot see_⌋,* their _⌊minds_⌋* _⌊so that they have no insight_⌋.* ¹⁹ And _⌊no one takes it to heart_⌋,* and there is no knowledge and no understanding to say, "I burned half of it in the fire and also I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat, and I have eaten. And I shall make the rest of it into an abomination! I shall bow down to a block of wood!" ²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a _⌊deceived mind_⌋* misleads him. And he cannot save _⌊himself_⌋,* and he cannot say, "Is this not an illusion in my right hand?"

²⁷ Those who say to the tree, 'You are my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their _⌊backs_⌋* to me, and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

¹ A _⌊saying_⌋:* 'Look, if a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him _⌊and she becomes another man's wife_⌋,* will he return to her again?' Will not that land be greatly defiled? And you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, would you now return to me?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ² "Lift up your eyes at the barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert,* and you have defiled the land with your fornication and with your wickedness. ³ Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet _⌊you have_⌋* the forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed.

⁸ _⌊At the same time_⌋* they are stupid and foolish, in the instruction of idols, it is wood.

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Son of man,* make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, ³ and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,* your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, _⌊on the day you were born_⌋* your umbilical cord was not cut, and _⌊you were not thoroughly washed clean with water_⌋,* and _⌊you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt_⌋,* and _⌊you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth_⌋.* ⁵ _⌊No eye took pity on you_⌋* to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown _⌊into the open field_⌋* in their despising of you _⌊on the day you were born_⌋.* ⁶ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live! ⁷ Grow up;* I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and _⌊reached full womanhood_⌋.* Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare. ⁸ " 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, _⌊your time of lovemaking had come_⌋,* and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into* a covenant with you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'and _⌊you became mine_⌋.* ⁹ And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. ¹¹ And I adorned you with ornaments,* and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. ¹² And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a _⌊beautiful crown_⌋* on your head. ¹³ And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; _⌊you were fit to be a queen_⌋.* ¹⁴ And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵ 'And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, "Let it be his." ¹⁶ And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful* shrines, and you prostituted on them; _⌊this had not happened before_⌋,* and it _⌊will not continue to happen_⌋.* ¹⁷ And you took _⌊your beautiful jewelry_⌋* made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself _⌊male images_⌋,* and you prostituted with them. ¹⁸ And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set _⌊before them_⌋.* ¹⁹ And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it _⌊before them_⌋* as a _⌊pleasing odor_⌋,* and so it was,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁰ 'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,* _⌊as if your whorings were not enough_⌋.* ²¹ And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them _⌊to be sacrificed to them_⌋.* ²² And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood _⌊when you were naked and bare_⌋,* when you were kicking about in your blood. ²³ " 'And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁴ 'And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square. ²⁵ At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring. ²⁶ And you prostituted with the _⌊Egyptians_⌋,* your neighbors _⌊who were sexually aroused_⌋,* and you increased your fornication to provoke me. ²⁷ And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into* the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd _⌊conduct_⌋.* ²⁸ And you prostituted with the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* on account of _⌊your insatiable lust_⌋,* and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied. ²⁹ And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,* to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. ³⁰ How hot with fever was your heart!' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. '_⌊When you did_⌋* all of these actions _⌊of a headstrong female prostitute_⌋,* ³¹ _⌊when you built_⌋* your mound at the head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet* you were* not like a prostitute, as you were scorning your harlot's wages. ³² O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers. ³³ To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings! ³⁴ And it was the opposite with you from the other women in your whorings; _⌊no one solicited you as a prostitute_⌋.* _⌊You gave_⌋* a harlot's wages, and a harlot's wages were not given to you, and so it was just the opposite. ³⁵ " 'Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh. ³⁶ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers _⌊whom you were pleased about_⌋,* and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from _⌊everywhere_⌋,* and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness. ³⁸ And I will judge you with the judgment of women committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you the blood of rage and jealousy. ³⁹ And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take _⌊your beautiful jewelry_⌋,* and they will leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones,* and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments _⌊before_⌋* many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot's wages you will not give* again. ⁴² And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry any longer. ⁴³ _⌊Because_⌋* you did not remember* the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon your head,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'and did* you not do wickedness* in addition to all of your detestable things? ⁴⁴ Look! Everyone quoting a proverb* against you, he will quote, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Like her mother is her daughter!' ⁴⁵ You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. ⁴⁶ And your elder sister, she is Samaria, and her daughters, who are dwelling on your north, and your younger sister is the one dwelling on your south; she is Sodom and her daughters. ⁴⁷ And you have not only gone in their ways, but* you also did according to their detestable things. _⌊In such a short time_⌋* you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways. ⁴⁸ _⌊As surely as I live_⌋,'* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as* you and your daughters did. ⁴⁹ Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and _⌊prosperous ease_⌋* was to her and to her daughters, and _⌊she did not sustain the needy and the poor_⌋.* ⁵⁰ And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing _⌊before me_⌋,* and I removed them _⌊because_⌋* I saw it. ⁵¹ And Samaria did not sin _⌊according to even half of your sins_⌋,* and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.* ⁵² Also,* you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters* through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,* you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous. ⁵³ And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and even the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them, ⁵⁴ in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them. ⁵⁵ And as for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. ⁵⁶ And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride ⁵⁷ _⌊before_⌋* your evil was uncovered? It was like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who are despising you. ⁵⁸ Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵⁹ 'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it* to you _⌊according to what you have done_⌋,* who despised the oath to break covenant. ⁶⁰ And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋.* ⁶¹ And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, _⌊both the older and the younger_⌋,* and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. ⁶² And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, ⁶³ in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and _⌊you will not open your mouth again_⌋* _⌊because of_⌋* your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. _⌊He shakes the arrows_⌋,* he inquires with the teraphim, he _⌊examines_⌋* the liver.

¹ And the word of Yahweh _⌊came_⌋* to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* ² "Son of man,* there were two women, the daughters of one mother, ³ and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. ⁴ Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And _⌊they became mine_⌋,* and they bore sons and daughters, and their names* are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. ⁵ And Oholah prostituted herself _⌊while she was still mine_⌋,* and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, ⁶ clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, _⌊handsome young men_⌋* and all of them horsemen, _⌊experts on horseback_⌋.* ⁷ And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. ⁹ Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* _⌊after whom she lusted_⌋.* ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her. ¹¹ "And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust _⌊she behaved more corruptly than her_⌋,* and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* governors and prefects, warriors* clothed in* perfection,* _⌊expert horsemen_⌋,* all of them _⌊handsome young men_⌋.* ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; _⌊they had both taken the same path_⌋!* ¹⁴ And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved* on the wall, images of Chaldeans* carved in red, ¹⁵ belted with a belt at* their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,* the image* of the _⌊Babylonians_⌋;* Chaldea was the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And she lusted for them _⌊when her eyes saw them_⌋,* and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. ¹⁷ And so the _⌊Babylonians_⌋* came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. ¹⁸ And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her _⌊just as_⌋* I turned from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet* she increased her whorings, _⌊recalling_⌋* the days of her childhood when she was prostituted* in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. ²¹ And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts. ²² "Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am stirring up your lovers against you concerning whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: ²³ the _⌊Babylonians_⌋* and all of the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* along with them, _⌊handsome young men_⌋,* governors and prefects, all of them adjutants* _⌊and excellent horsemen_⌋.* ²⁴ And they will come against you with an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd* of peoples; they will set themselves against you from all around with large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give _⌊before them_⌋* judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments. ²⁵ And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and _⌊those who are left_⌋,* they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and _⌊your remnant_⌋* will be consumed by fire. ²⁶ And they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take _⌊your splendid jewelry_⌋.* ²⁷ And I will put an end to your obscene conduct coming from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.' ²⁸ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom* you turned away. ²⁹ And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take all of your acquisitions, and they will leave you naked and in bareness; and the nakedness of your fornication and your obscene conduct and your whorings will be exposed. ³⁰ These things are accomplished* against* you since you prostituted yourself after the nations, and on account of that, you defiled yourself by their idols. ³¹ You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand." ' ³² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You will drink the deep and wide* cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; _⌊the cup holds so much_⌋!* ³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria. ³⁴ And you will drink it, and you will drain it, and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for _⌊I myself_⌋* spoke," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ³⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn* you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings." ³⁶ And Yahweh said to me, "Son of man,* will you judge Oholah and Oholibah and declare their abominable deeds to* them? ³⁷ For they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me—they sacrificed them as food! ³⁸ Also they did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and they profaned my Sabbaths, ³⁹ and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, _⌊this is what they did in my house_⌋!* ⁴⁰ _⌊What is worse_⌋,* they sent for men _⌊who come_⌋* from a distant place, to whom a messenger was sent to them, and look! They came! Men for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself with an ornament. ⁴¹ And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared _⌊before her_⌋,* and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.* ⁴² And a sound of a carefree crowd was with it,* and in addition to these men, _⌊a crowd of drunken men* was brought in_⌋* from the desert,* and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads. ⁴³ And I said to* the one worn out with adulteries, 'Now they will prostitute her concerning her fornication, even her.'* ⁴⁴ And so they went to her like going to a female* prostitute; and thus they went to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of obscene conduct. ⁴⁵ But righteous men, they will judge them with the judgment of committing adultery, and with the judgment of shedding blood; for they were committing adultery, and blood was on their hands." ⁴⁶ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder. ⁴⁷ And an assembly must stone them with stones,* and they must cut them down. With their swords they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and with fire they shall burn their houses. ⁴⁸ And _⌊I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land_⌋,* and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness. ⁴⁹ And they will repay your obscene conduct upon you, and the guilt of your idols you will bear, and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

⁴ Their deeds do not permit them to return them to God. Because a spirit of whoredom is in their midst, they do not know Yahweh.

¹ Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not exult like the nations! For you played the whore, departing from your God; you loved a harlot's wage on all the threshing floors of grain.

¹¹ If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies, saying "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," then he would be a preacher for this people!

¹⁹ Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Wake up!' And to a lifeless stone, 'Arise!' Can he teach? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, and there is no breath within it.

⁹ whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. ¹¹ And because of this, God sends them _⌊a powerful delusion_⌋* so that they will believe the lie,

¹⁰ So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!' ¹¹ Thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I am going to raise up evil against you from within your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives _⌊in broad daylight_⌋.* ¹² Though you did this in secret, I will do this thing before all of Israel _⌊in broad daylight_⌋!'"*

⁹ "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and at my neighbor's doorway I have lain in wait, ¹⁰ let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her,

²⁹ For you* will be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted, and you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.

⁵ who burn with lust among the oaks, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

⁷ You have set your bed upon a high and lofty mountain; indeed, you went up there to slaughter sacrifice.

²⁰ "For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you were lying down as a prostitute.

⁶ Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate* Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there.

¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh."

¹³ And you will know that I am Yahweh _⌊when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols_⌋* around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place at which they gave a pleasing scent for all of their idols.

¹⁶ And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful* shrines, and you prostituted on them; _⌊this had not happened before_⌋,* and it _⌊will not continue to happen_⌋.*

²⁵ At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring.

²⁸ And I brought them to the land that _⌊I swore_⌋* to give* to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there. ²⁹ And I said to them, 'What is the high place* to which you are going?' And _⌊it is called_⌋* Bamah until this day.

² When I called* them, they went from my face.* They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.

¹⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you* will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to immorality, that their bodies would be dishonored among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God with a lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed for eternity. Amen. ²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their females exchanged the natural relations for those contrary to nature, ²⁷ and likewise also the males, abandoning the natural relations with the female, were inflamed in their desire toward one another, males with males committing the shameless deed, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was necessary for their error. ²⁸ And just as they did not see fit _⌊to recognize God_⌋*, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things that are not proper,

¹⁷ "No woman _⌊of Israel_⌋* shall be a temple prostitute, and no man _⌊of Israel_⌋* shall be a male shrine prostitute.

²³ They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹² He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors* made.

⁷ He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah.

⁵ Men of evil do not understand justice, but seekers of Yahweh understand completely.*

⁵ Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue in rebellion. The whole of the head is sick, and the whole of the heart is faint.

¹⁰ Many will be purified and will be cleansed and will be refined, but the wicked will act wickedly _⌊and none of the wicked will understand_⌋,* but _⌊those who have insight_⌋* will understand.

⁵ You will stumble by day, and the priest also will stumble with you at night. And I will destroy your mother; ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me.* And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.*

⁹ Who is wise that he can understand these things? Who is discerning that he knows them? The ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; but transgressors stumble in them.

⁴³ _⌊Why_⌋* do you not understand my way of speaking? Because you are not able to listen to my message.

¹¹ there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

¹⁶ Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For it says, "The two will become one flesh."*

¹⁸ being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,

⁸ But if you are without discipline, in which all legitimate sons* have become participants, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

²⁸ And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them,* "_⌊You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough_⌋;* here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." ²⁹ He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone. ¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced,

⁶ Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate* Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there. ⁷ And I thought, 'After her doing all these things to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.* ⁸ And I saw that _⌊for this very reason, that_⌋* on account of apostate* Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also. ⁹ And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. ¹⁰ Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, _⌊but only_⌋* in pretense,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate* Israel has proved herself more upright* than treacherous Judah.

² And though they say, '_⌊As Yahweh lives_⌋,'* _⌊therefore_⌋* they swear falsely."

³⁹ And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Let each one go serve his idols now and after, if you are not listening to me, but _⌊my holy name_⌋* you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

⁴ Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And _⌊they became mine_⌋,* and they bore sons and daughters, and their names* are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. ⁵ And Oholah prostituted herself _⌊while she was still mine_⌋,* and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, ⁶ clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, _⌊handsome young men_⌋* and all of them horsemen, _⌊experts on horseback_⌋.* ⁷ And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her.

⁸ Blow the _⌊horn_⌋* in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm in Beth-aven; look behind you, Benjamin.

¹⁵ Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal, so I began to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels.

⁵ The inhabitants* of Samaria tremble for the calf* of Beth-aven. Indeed, his people will mourn for it, and his idolatrous priests will wail* over it— over its glory because it has departed from it.

⁸ The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars. They will say to the mountains, "Cover us," and to the hills, "Fall on us."

¹² * Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,* and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is still wandering with God and is faithful to the Holy One.

¹¹ If in Gilead there is evil, surely they will come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, also their altars will be like stone heaps on furrows of the field.

⁴ "Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and _⌊multiply transgression_⌋!* Bring your sacrifices in the morning and your tithes on the _⌊third day_⌋.*

⁵ But do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile and Bethel will come to disaster."

¹⁴ These are those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, 'By the life of your gods, O Dan,' and 'By the life of the way of Beersheba,' they will fall and they will not rise again."

⁵ and those who bow down on the rooftops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh but also swearing by Milkom,* ⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

⁴⁷ And that slave who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will _⌊will be given a severe beating_⌋.* ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows _⌊will be given a light beating_⌋.* And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will ask him for even more.

¹¹ And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose them.

³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin.

¹¹ "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." _⌊Samuel became angry_⌋,* and he cried out to Yahweh all night.

¹⁷ And then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and _⌊fatlings, kids* will eat among the sites of ruins._⌋*

²¹ And this shall happen: on that day, a young man will keep a young cow of the herd and two sheep alive. ²² And this shall happen: because of the abundance of milk production, he will eat curds, for every one that is left in the midst of the land will eat curds and honey. ²³ And this shall happen on that day: Every place where there are a thousand vines* for a thousand silver pieces will become briers,* and it will be thornbushes.* ²⁴ One will go there with arrows and bow, for all of the land will be briers* and thornbushes.* ²⁵ And as for all of the hills that they hoed with the hoe, you will not go there, for fear of briers* and thornbushes.* And it will become like pastureland for cattle and overtrodden land for sheep.

¹⁸ he will wind a winding tightly around you like a ball, to a _⌊wide land_⌋.* There you shall die, and there the chariots of your splendor will be, disgrace to your master's house!

⁸ And I saw that _⌊for this very reason, that_⌋* on account of apostate* Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also.

¹¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate* Israel has proved herself more upright* than treacherous Judah.

⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them, A wolf from the desert plains* will devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities, everyone who goes out from there will be torn, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.

²⁴ Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and _⌊they became worse instead of better_⌋.*

⁵ Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy? They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.*

⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. Yes, our apostasies are many; we have sinned against you.

⁷ My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all.

¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned* a stubborn shoulder and _⌊stopped their ears from listening_⌋.*

¹² So I let them* go in the stubbornness of their heart; they walked in their counsels.

⁴ Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, is my contention.*

¹ Ephraim herds the wind* and is pursuing the east wind all day long; he multiplies deception and violence and he* _⌊makes a treaty with Assyria_⌋,* and oil is brought to Egypt.

² And now they sin again, and they make for themselves a molten idol, idols from their silver metal according to their understanding, all of them the work of skilled craftsmen. To these they say, "Sacrifice!" People are kissing bull calves.

¹¹ The one who does evil, let him do evil still, and the defiled, let him be defiled still, and the righteous, let him practice righteousness still, and the holy, let him be holy still."

⁸ And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous.

¹⁹ You shall not subvert* justice; you shall not _⌊show partiality_⌋;* and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind the eyes of the wise and misrepresents the words of the righteous.

³² For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the terraces of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; _⌊their clusters are bitter_⌋.* ³³ Their wine is the poison of snakes, and the deadly poison of horned vipers.

³ But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.

³ Here I am! Testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one! Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, that I may shut my eyes _⌊regarding_⌋* him?-then I will restore it to you." ⁴ Then they said, "You have not exploited us or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from the hand of anyone."

⁷ Now this happened because the _⌊Israelites_⌋* had sinned against Yahweh their God when he brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt and they feared other gods. ⁸ They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* which the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* secretly did things which were not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. ¹² They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!" ¹³ Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, with every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors,* which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets." ¹⁴ But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors* who did not believe in Yahweh their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

⁹ The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the people of Abraham's God. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is very exalted.

¹⁵ For the leech, there are two daughters; "Give, give!" they cry. As for three of these, they are not satisfied; as for four, they do not say enough. ¹⁶ Sheol* and barrenness of womb, the land is not satisfied with water, and fire does not say "enough!"

²¹ How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. ²² Your silver has become as dross; Your wine is diluted with waters.

²¹ Yet I planted you as a choice vine, all of it a seed of trustworthiness. How then have you altered before me into something that is degenerate, the foreign vine?

² Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out,* and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

¹² For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous, you foes of the righteous, those who take a bribe, and _⌊those who_⌋* push aside the poor ones in the gate!

³ Their hands are upon evil, to do it well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave it together.

¹⁷ They shall turn back; they shall be _⌊greatly ashamed_⌋,* those who trust in an image, who say to a cast image, "You are our gods."

³⁶ How you go about so much changing your way! Also by Egypt you will be put to shame, just as you were put to shame by Assyria. ³⁷ Also from there you will come out with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected _⌊those in whom you trust_⌋,* and you will not prosper through them.

²⁴ But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our ancestors* from our youth, their flocks, and their cattle, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors,* from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.'

¹¹ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "_⌊A hot wind from the barren heights_⌋* in the desert,* _⌊in the direction of_⌋* the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse, ¹² _⌊a wind too strong for_⌋* these will come for me, now also I speak judgments against them."

¹³ O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all those who forsake you will be put to shame, and those who turn aside from you in the earth will be recorded, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, Yahweh.

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.

⁶ It will also be brought to Assyria, as tribute to the great king.* Ephraim will obtain disgrace and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.*

¹⁵ Although he may flourish among reeds,* the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh rising from the desert; his fountain will dry up, his spring will be parched. It will plunder his treasury,* every object of desire.

⁹ And I _⌊looked up_⌋* and saw, and look!—two women coming forward, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket* between the earth and the sky.* ¹⁰ And I asked the angel who was talking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?"* ¹¹ And he said to me, "To build for it a house* in the land of Shinar,* and when it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site."