The Living Bible (280 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel. The Lord has filed a lawsuit against you listing the following charges: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.
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You swear and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another.
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“That is why your land is not producing; it is filled with sadness, and all living things grow sick and die; the animals, the birds, and even the fish begin to disappear.
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“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame to him! Look, priest, I am pointing my finger at
you.
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As a sentence for your crimes, you priests will stumble in broad daylight as well as in the night, and so will your false ‘prophets’ too; and I will destroy your mother, Israel.
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My people are destroyed because they don’t know me, and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will ‘forget’ to bless your children.
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The more my people multiplied, the more they sinned against me. They exchanged the glory of God for the disgrace of idols.
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“The priests rejoice in the sins of the people; they lap it up and lick their lips for more!
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And thus it is: ‘Like priests, like people’—because the priests are wicked, the people are too. Therefore, I will punish both priests and people for all their wicked deeds.
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They will eat and still be hungry. Though they do a big business as prostitutes, they shall have no children, for they have deserted me and turned to other gods.
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“Wine, women, and song have robbed my people of their brains.
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For they are asking a piece of wood to tell them what to do. ‘Divine Truth’ comes to them through tea leaves!
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Longing after idols has made them foolish. For they have played the harlot, serving other gods, deserting me.
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They sacrifice to idols on the tops of mountains; they go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks and poplars and sumac trees.
“There your daughters turn to prostitution and your brides commit adultery.
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But why should I punish them? For you men are doing the same thing, sinning with harlots and temple prostitutes. Fools! Your doom is sealed, for you refuse to understand.
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“But though Israel is a prostitute, may Judah stay far from such a life. O Judah, do not join with those who insincerely worship me at Gilgal and at Bethel. Their worship is mere pretense.
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Don’t be like Israel, stubborn as a heifer, resisting the Lord’s attempts to lead her in green pastures.
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Stay away from her, for she is wedded to idolatry.
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“The men of Israel finish up their drinking bouts, and off they go to find some whores. Their love for shame is greater than for honor.
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“Therefore, a mighty wind shall sweep them away;
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they shall die in shame because they sacrifice to idols.
“Listen to this, you priests and all of Israel’s leaders; listen, all you men of the royal family: You are doomed! For you have deluded the people with idols at Mizpah and Tabor
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and dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia. But never forget—I will settle up with all of you for what you’ve done.
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“I have seen your evil deeds: Israel, you have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.
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Your deeds won’t let you come to God again, for the spirit of adultery is deep within you, and you cannot know the Lord.
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“The very arrogance of Israel testifies against her in my court. She will stumble under her load of guilt, and Judah, too, shall fall.
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Then at last, they will come with their flocks and herds to sacrifice to God, but it will be too late—they will not find him. He has withdrawn from them and they are left alone.
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“For they have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that aren’t his. Suddenly they and all their wealth will disappear.
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Sound the alarm! Warn with trumpet blasts in Gibeah and Ramah, and on over to Beth-aven; tremble, land of Benjamin!
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Hear this announcement, Israel: When your day of punishment comes, you will become a heap of rubble.
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“The leaders of Judah have become the lowest sort of thieves.
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Therefore, I will pour my anger down upon them like a waterfall,
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and Ephraim will be crushed and broken by my sentence because she is determined to follow idols.
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I will destroy her as a moth does wool; I will sap away the strength of Judah like dry rot.
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“When Ephraim and Judah see how sick they are, Ephraim will turn to Assyria, to the great king there, but he can neither help nor cure.
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“I will tear Ephraim and Judah as a lion rips apart its prey; I will carry them off and chase all rescuers away.
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“I will abandon them and return to my home until they admit their guilt and look to me for help again, for as soon as trouble comes, they will search for me and say:
“‘Come, let us return to the Lord; it is he who has torn us—he will heal us. He has wounded—he will bind us up.
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In just a couple of days,
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or three at the most, he will set us on our feet again to live in his kindness!
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Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him, and he will respond to us as surely as the coming of dawn or the rain of early spring.’”
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“O Ephraim and Judah, what shall I do with you? For your love vanishes like morning clouds, and disappears like dew.
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I sent my prophets to warn you of your doom; I have slain you with the words of my mouth, threatening you with death. Suddenly, without warning, my judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night.
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“I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.
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“But like Adam, you broke my covenant; you refused my love.
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Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood.
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Her citizens are gangs of robbers, lying in ambush for their victims; packs of priests murder along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin.
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Yes, I have seen a horrible thing in Israel—Ephraim chasing other gods, Israel utterly defiled.
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“O Judah, for you also there is a plentiful harvest of punishment waiting—and I wanted so much to bless you!
“I wanted to forgive Israel, but her sins were far too great—no one can even live in Samaria without being a liar, thief, and bandit!
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“Her people never seem to recognize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds give them away on every side; I see them all.
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The king is glad about their wickedness; the princes laugh about their lies.
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They are all adulterers; as a baker’s oven is constantly aflame—except after he kneads the dough and waits for it to rise again—so are these people constantly aflame with lust.
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“On the king’s birthday, the princes get him drunk; he makes a fool of himself and drinks with those who mock him.
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Their hearts blaze like a furnace with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it flames forth like raging fire.
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“They kill their kings one after another,
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and no one cries out to me for help.
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“My people mingle with the heathen, picking up their evil ways; thus they become as good-for-nothing as a half-baked cake!
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“Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t know it. Ephraim’s hair is turning gray, and he doesn’t even realize how weak and old he is.
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His pride in other gods has openly condemned him; yet he doesn’t return to his God, nor even try to find him.
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“Ephraim is a silly, witless dove, calling to Egypt, flying to Assyria.
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But as she flies, I throw my net over her and bring her down like a bird from the sky; I will punish her for all her evil ways.
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“Woe to my people for deserting me; let them perish, for they have sinned against me. I wanted to redeem them but their hard hearts would not accept the truth.
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They lie there sleepless with anxiety but won’t ask my help. Instead, they worship heathen gods, asking them for crops and for prosperity.
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“I have helped them and made them strong, yet now they turn against me.
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“They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High God. They are like a crooked bow that always misses targets; their leaders will perish by the sword of the enemy for their insolence to me. And all Egypt will laugh at them.
