| New Living Translation | English Standard Version |
| 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. | 1Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; |
| 2You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. | 2there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. |
| 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. | 3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. |
| 4“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. | 4Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. |
| 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. | 5You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. |
| 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. | 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. |
| 7The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. | 7The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. |
| 8“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! | 8They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. |
| 9‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. | 9And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. |
| 10They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the LORD | 10They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish |
| 11to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. | 11whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. |
| 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. | 12My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. |
| 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. | 13They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery. |
| 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. | 14I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. |
| 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. | 15Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the LORD lives.” |
| 16Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the LORD feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture? | 16Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? |
| 17Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry. | 17Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. |
| 18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor. | 18When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame. |
| 19So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame. | 19A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. |
| 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. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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