Read the Bible

God's Controversy with Israel

^1 (C1)Listen to the word of the LORD, you sons of Israel,
Because the LORD has a ^(C2)case against the inhabitants of the land,
For there is ^(C3)no ^(F1)faithfulness, nor ^(F2)loyalty,
Nor ^(C4)knowledge of God in the land.

² There is ^(C1)oath-taking, ^(F1)(C2)denial, ^(C3)murder, ^(C4)stealing, and ^(C5)adultery.
They employ violence, so that ^(C6)bloodshed ^(F2)follows bloodshed.

³ Therefore the land ^(C1)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky,
And even the fish of the sea ^(F1)disappear.

⁴ Yet let no one ^(F1)(C1)find fault, and let no one rebuke;
For your people are like those who ^(C2)contend with a priest.

⁵ So you will ^(C1)stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your ^(C2)mother.

^6 (C1)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Since you have ^(C2)rejected knowledge,
I also will ^(C3)reject you from being My priest.
Since you have ^(C4)forgotten the ^(C5)Law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

⁷ The more they ^(C1)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will ^(C2)change their glory into shame.

⁸ They ^(C1)feed on the ^(F1)sin of My people,
And ^(C2)long for their wrongdoing.

⁹ And it will be, like people, ^(C1)like priest;
So I will ^(C2)punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.

^10 (C1)They will eat, but not have enough;
They will ^(C2)play the prostitute, but not ^(F1)increase,
Because they ^(C3)gave up devoting themselves to the LORD.

^11 (F1)Infidelity, ^(C1)wine, and new wine take away the ^(F2)understanding.

¹² My people ^(C1)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them;
For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful, departing ^(F1)from their God.

¹³ They offer sacrifices on the ^(C1)tops of the mountains
And ^(F1)(C2)burn incense on the hills,
^(C3)Under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your ^(F2)brides commit adultery.

¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Or your ^(F1)brides when they commit adultery,
Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes
And offer sacrifices with ^(C1)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.

¹⁵ Though you, Israel, play the prostitute,
Judah must not become guilty;
Also you are not to go to ^(C1)Gilgal,
Nor go up to Beth-aven
^(C2)And take the oath:
"As the LORD lives!"

¹⁶ Since Israel is ^(C1)stubborn
Like a stubborn cow,
^(F1)Will the LORD now ^(C2)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?

¹⁷ Ephraim is allied with ^(C1)idols;
^(C2)Leave him alone.

¹⁸ Their liquor is gone,
They prostitute themselves continually;
^(F1)(C1)Their ^(F2)rulers dearly love shame.

^19 (C1)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ^(F1)put to shame because of their sacrifices.