And their lies caused them to err, B.C. 787. After the which their fathers have walked : 5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, 6 And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; And the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And a man and his father will go in unto the same 1maid, 8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge 9 And they drink the wine of 2 the condemned In the house of their god. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you forty years through the wilderness, To possess the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, And of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; And commanded the prophets, Saying, Prophesy not. 13 Behold, I am pressed under you, As a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong shall not strengthen his force, Neither shall the mighty deliver + himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: 3 2 3 HEAR this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known Of all the families of the earth: Therefore I will 6 punish you For all your iniquities. Can two walk together, Except they be agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, When he hath no prey? Will a young lion 7 cry out of his den, 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, Where no gin is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, Or, young woman. 2 Or, such as have fined, or, mulcted. 3 Or, I will press your place, as a cart full 4 Heb. his soul, or, life. 6 Heb. visit upon. 7 Heb. give forth his voice. And the people 1 not be afraid? 2 And the LORD hath not done it? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, But he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared- who will not fear? 9 The Lord God hath spoken-who can but prophesy? Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, And say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, 10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; 12 Thus saith the LORD; 13 As the shepherd 5 taketh out of the mouth of the lion So shall the children of Israel be taken out That dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, Saith the Lord Gon, the God of hosts, 14 That in the day that I shall 7 visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el: And the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; 4 2 And the houses of ivory shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. HEAR this word, ye kine of Bashan, That are in the mountain of Samaria, Which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, Which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. That, lo, the days shall come upon you, That he will take you away with hooks, 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, 4 Every cow at that which is before her; And ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. At Gilgal multiply transgression; And bring your sacrifices every morning, And your tithes after 9 three years: 5 And 10 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, 6 7 And proclaim and publish the free offerings: For this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. And want of bread in all your places: Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. And also I have withholden the rain from you, When there were yet three months to the harvest: 1 Or, not run together? 2 Or, And shall not the LORD do somewhat? 3 Or, oppressions. 4 Or, spoil. 5 Heb. delivereth. 6 Or, on the bed's feet. 7 Or, punish Israel for his transgressions. 8 Or, away the things of the palace. 9 Heb. three years of days. 10 Heb. qffer by burning. 11 Heb. so ye love. And caused it not to rain upon another city: One piece was rained upon, And the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; 9 10 11 12 But they were not satisfied: Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew : 1 When your gardens and your vineyards And your fig trees and your olive trees increased, Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have sent among you the pestilence 2 after the manner of Egypt: Your young men have I slain with the sword, 3 And have taken away your horses; And I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have overthrown some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: And because I will do this unto thee, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the 4 wind, 5 And declareth unto man what is his thought, That maketh the morning darkness, And treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. HEAR ye this word which I take up against you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen-she shall no more rise: She is forsaken upon her land-there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord God; 4 The city that went out by a thousand-shall leave an hundred, For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, 5 But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, And pass not to Beer-sheba : For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Beth-el shall come to nought. 6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; 7 Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. And leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, And turneth the shadow of death into the morning, And maketh the day dark with night: That calleth for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth: 9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, 10 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, And take from him burdens of wheat: ye 1 Or, The multitude of your gardens, &c. did the palmerworm, &c. 2 Or, in the way. 3 Heb. With the captivity of your horses. 4 Or, spirit. 5 Heb. spoil Ye have built houses of hewn stone-but ye shall not dwell in them; Ye have planted pleasant vineyards-but ye shall not drink wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: 13 They afflict the just, they take 2 a bribe, And they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. For it is an evil time. 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live : And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, 16 And establish judgment in the gate: It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; And they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: 18 For I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. WOE unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, And a bear met him; Or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, And I will not 3 smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: 4 Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; For I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 5 24 But let judgment run down as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 6 26 But ye have borne & the tabernacle of your Moloch And Chiun your images, The star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. And stretch themselves upon their couches, And the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5 That chant to the sound of the viol, And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David; 6 That drink 3 wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the chief ointments: But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, 8 9 And the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. The Lord God hath sworn by himself, Saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: Therefore will I deliver up the city with 5 all that is therein. And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they 10 shall die. And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for 6 we may not make mention of the name of the LORD. 11 12 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, And he will smite the great house with 7 breaches, And the little house with clefts. Shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plow there with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: 13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought; Which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? 14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, 7 Saith the LORD the God of hosts; And they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath Unto the river of the wilderness. 9 THUS hath the Lord Gon showed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it 2 was the latter growth after the king's mowings. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, Ó Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: 10 By whom shall Jacob arise?- for he is small. 3 The LORD repented for this: 4 It shall not be, saith the LORD. THUS hath the Lord Gon showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord Gon, cease, I beseech thee: By whom shall Jacob arise?-for he is small. 6 The LORD repented for this: 7 This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. THUS he showed me: and, behold, the 8 plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. Lord stood upon a wall made by a what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 1 Or, abound with superfluities. 2 Or, quaver. 3 Or, in bowls of wine. 4 Heb. breach. 5 Heb. the fulness thereof. 6 Or, they will not, or, have not. 7 Or, droppings. 8 Or, valley. 9 Or, green worms. 10 Or, who of (or, for,) Jacob shall stand? |