Second Pronouncement of Punishment

¹Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,[#Ps 22:12; Eze 39:18]

who oppress the poor and crush the needy,

who say to their husbands, “Bring us something to drink!”

²The Lord God has sworn by His holiness:[#Ps 89:35]

Behold, the days are coming upon you

when they will take you away with hooks,

the last one of you with fishhooks.

³You will go out through breached walls,[#Eze 12:5, 12]

every one straight ahead of her;

you will be exiled to Harmon,

says the Lord .

⁴Come to Bethel and transgress,

to Gilgal and multiply transgression;

bring your sacrifices every morning

and your tithes every three days.

⁵Burn leavened bread as a thank offering;

announce your voluntary offerings loudly,

for so you love to do, O Israelites,

says the Lord God .

⁶Though I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities

and lack of food in all your places,

yet you did not return to Me,

says the Lord .

⁷I also withheld the rain from you,

when there were still three months to the harvest.

I would send rain on one town,

and send no rain on another town.

One field would receive rain,

but another field without rain would wither.

⁸So two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water,[#1Ki 18:5]

but they were not satisfied;

yet you did not return to Me,

says the Lord .

⁹I struck you with blight and mildew.[#Dt 28:22; Hag 2:17]

Locusts devoured your many gardens and vineyards,

your fig trees and olive trees;

yet you did not return to Me,

says the Lord .

¹⁰Pestilence like that of Egypt

I sent against you.

By the sword I killed your young men;

your horses were taken captive.

The stench of your camps I brought up into your nostrils;

yet you did not return to Me,

says the Lord .

¹¹I destroyed some of you,

as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

You were like a firebrand plucked out of the fire;

yet you did not return to Me,

says the Lord .

¹²Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel,

and because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

¹³The One who forms the mountains

and creates the wind,

who reveals His thoughts to man,

who turns the darkness into dawn

and strides on the heights of the earth —

the Lord , the God of Hosts, is His name.