119 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
119 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
Israel's Failure to Learn
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# Chapter 4
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1. Listen to me, you fat cows
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living in Samaria,
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you women who oppress the poor
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and crush the needy,
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and who are always calling to your husbands,
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"Bring us another drink!"
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2. The Sovereign LORD has sworn this by his holiness:
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"The time will come when you will be led away
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with hooks in your noses.
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Every last one of you will be dragged away
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like a fish on a hook!
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3. You will be led out through the ruins of the wall;
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you will be thrown from your fortresses,"
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says the LORD.
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4. "Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel.
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Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.
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Offer sacrifices each morning,
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and bring your tithes every three days.
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5. Present your bread made with yeast
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as an offering of thanksgiving.
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Then give your extra voluntary offerings
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so you can brag about it everywhere!
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This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,"
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says the Sovereign LORD.
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6. "I brought hunger to every city
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and famine to every town.
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But still you would not return to me,"
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says the LORD.
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7. "I kept the rain from falling
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when your crops needed it the most.
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I sent rain on one town
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but withheld it from another.
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Rain fell on one field,
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while another field withered away.
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8. People staggered from town to town looking for water,
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but there was never enough.
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But still you would not return to me,"
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says the LORD.
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9. "I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.
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Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.
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But still you would not return to me,"
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says the LORD.
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10. "I sent plagues on you
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like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.
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I killed your young men in war
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and led all your horses away.
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The stench of death filled the air!
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But still you would not return to me,"
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says the LORD.
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11. "I destroyed some of your cities,
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as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Those of you who survived
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were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.
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But still you would not return to me,"
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says the LORD.
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12. "Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.
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Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!"
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13. For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains,
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stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind.
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He turns the light of dawn into darkness
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and treads on the heights of the earth.
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The LORD God of Heaven's Armies is his name!
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