| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the LORD |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the LORD’s name. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the LORD feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture? |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame. |
| [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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