| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1How prosperous Israel is— a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The LORD will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Then they will say, “We have no king because we didn’t fear the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us anyway?” |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5The people of Samaria tremble in fear for their calf idol at Beth-aven, and they mourn for it. Though its priests rejoice over it, its glory will be stripped away. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7Samaria and its king will be cut off; they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!” |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9The LORD says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked? |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Now whenever it fits my plan, I will attack you, too. I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11“Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain— an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’ |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13“But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies— trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall, just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. Even mothers and children were dashed to death there. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15You will share that fate, Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day of judgment dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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