Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn it back: for their cleaving asunder those conceiving of Gilead to increase their bound.

Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Judah and for four
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they rejected the law of the Lord
And have not kept His statutes;
Their lies also have led them astray,
Those after which their fathers walked.

Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father {have sexual relations with} the same girl, so that [they] profane my holy name.

“They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God’s command],
And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined.

But to those who were separate you gave wine for drink; and to the prophets you said, Be prophets no longer.

Archers will not hold their ground; fast runners will not save their lives, nor will those who ride horses.

Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. [This is] the declaration of Yahweh!"

"They do not know [how] to do right," {declares Yahweh}, "those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses."

This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd might save from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear, the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds, and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches."

Give ear to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are in the hill of Samaria, by whom the poor are kept down, and those in need are crushed; who say to their lords, Get out the wine and give us drink.

I sent plagues like those of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,
yet you did not return to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Those who turn justice into wormwood
throw righteousness to the ground.

They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully.

For I know your transgressions [are] many and your sins [are] numerous, [you] foes of [the] righteous, those who take a bribe, and {those who} push aside [the] poor [ones] in the gate!

Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all [of] the public squares [there will be] wailing, and in all [of] the streets [they will say], 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call [the] farmers to mourning and [to] wailing, to those who are skilled [in] lamentation.

Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why [is] this for you the day of Yahweh? It [will be] darkness and not light!

“Did you bring Me sacrifices and grain offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [Certainly not!]

Woe to those secure in Zion, And those confident in the mount of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And come to them have the house of Israel.

Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

Those who lie on [luxurious] beds of ivory
And lounge around out on their couches,
And eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,

[Alas for those] who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music.

[Alas for those] who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

Therefore, they will now go into exile with the first of the captives,
And the cultic revelry and banqueting of those who lounge around [on their luxurious couches] will pass away.

Hear this, those who trample on [the] poor and who annihilate the afflicted of [the] land,

Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen -- and rise not again!'

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.
None of those who flee will get away;
none of the fugitives will escape.

And [thus will do] the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like [the] Nile of Egypt,

All those sinners among my people will be put to the sword who say, Evil will not overtake us or come face to face with us.

As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule." The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!