Chapter 4
Second Summons
1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who live on the mount of Samaria:
Who oppress the destitute
and abuse the needy;
Who say to your husbands,
“Bring us a drink!”
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
Truly days are coming upon you
when they shall drag you away with ropes,
your children with fishhooks;
3 You shall go out through the breached walls
one in front of the other,
And you shall be exiled to Harmon—
oracle of the Lord.
4 Come to Bethel and sin,
to Gilgal and sin all the more!
Each morning bring your sacrifices,
every third day your tithes;
5 Burn leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice,
proclaim publicly your voluntary offerings,
For so you love to do, Israelites—
oracle of the Lord God.
6 Though I made your teeth
clean of food in all your cities,
and made bread scarce in all your dwellings,
Yet you did not return to me—
oracle of the Lord.(A)
7 (B)And I withheld the rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away;
I sent rain upon one city
but not upon another;
One field was watered by rain,
but the one I did not water dried up;
8 Two or three cities staggered to another to drink water
but were not satisfied;
Yet you did not return to me—
oracle of the Lord.
9 I struck you with blight and mildew;
locusts devoured your gardens and vineyards,
the caterpillar consumed your fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you did not return to me—
oracle of the Lord.(C)
10 I sent upon you pestilence like that of Egypt;(D)
with the sword I killed your young men and your captured horses,
and to your nostrils I brought the stench of your camps;
Yet you did not return to me—
oracle of the Lord.
11 I overthrew you
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;
you were like a brand plucked from the fire,(E)
Yet you did not return to me—
oracle of the Lord.
12 Therefore thus I will do to you, Israel:
and since I will deal thus with you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
13 The one who forms mountains and creates winds,
and declares to mortals their thoughts;
Who makes dawn into darkness
and strides upon the heights of the earth,
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
Footnotes
- 4:1
- 4:3
- 4:4
- 4:12
Cross references
- 4:6 : Wis 12:2, 10.
- 4:7 : Jer 14:1–6.
- 4:9 : Dt 28:22; Jl 1:4; 2:25; Hg 2:17.
- 4:10 : Dt 7:15; 28:27.
- 4:11 : Gn 19:24–25; Zec 3:2.
