“But you made the Nazirites drink wine; ¹  you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’

Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you, as you claim he is.

I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for forty years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. ¹  You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim ²  by our own power?”

Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ¹  and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine ²  vineyards you planted. ³ 

“But surely I gave ¹  you no food to eat in any of your cities; you lacked food everywhere you live. ²  Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!

“I have chosen ¹  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

You will pick up your images ¹  of Sikkuth, ²  your king, ³  and Kiyyun, ⁴  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, ¹  but you establish a reign of violence. ² 

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel! ¹ 

“I overthrew some of you the way God ¹  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ²  You were like a burning stick ³  snatched from the flames. Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ¹  who live on Mount Samaria! You ²  oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your ³  husbands, “Bring us more to drink!” ⁴ 

Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; ¹  you will be thrown out ²  toward Harmon.” ³  The Lord is speaking!

Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, ¹  family ²  of Israel:

The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹  “Certainly the time is approaching ²  when you will be carried away ³  in baskets, ⁴  every last one of you ⁵  in fishermen’s pots. ⁶ 

You did not bring me ¹  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ²  of Israel.

Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. ¹ 

Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against ¹  you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up ²  from the land of Egypt:

Certainly ¹  I am aware of ²  your many rebellious acts ³  and your numerous sins. You ⁴  torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to ⁵  the needy at the city gate. ⁶ 

“Look! I am about to bring ¹  a nation against you, family ²  of Israel.” The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking. “They will oppress ³  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ⁴  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ⁵