I will make you my wife forever I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy.

Then the LORD told me: "Go love your wife again, even though she is being loved by another and is committing adultery. Love her the same way the LORD loves the people of Israel, even though they look to other gods and love raisin cakes."

"Hear this message from the LORD, people of Israel. Indeed, the LORD brings a charge against the people who live in the land for there is no truth and no gracious love or knowledge of God in the land.

"Let no one fight or bring charges against another, for my dispute is with you, priest.

My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge of me. Because you rejected that knowledge, I will reject you as a priest for me. Since you forget the Law of your God, I will also forget your children.

They offer sacrifices on the mountain tops, burning offerings on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees, since their shade is very good. Therefore your daughters are prostitutes and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn mule! Nevertheless, will not the LORD feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

"Hear this, priests, pay attention, house of Israel, listen, royal family! For judgment is coming your way, because you have been a trap to Mizpah, a snare spread out on Mount Tabor.

"Their actions hinder them from turning to their God, because a spirit of fornication is in their midst, and the LORD they do not know.

Ephraim will be desolate when it is rebuked. I have made known among the tribes of Israel what will surely come about.

Ephraim is crushed, broken by judgment, because he willingly pursued idols.

Therefore I will consume Ephraim like a moth, and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.

"Come, let us return to the LORD; even though he has torn us, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bind our wounds.

After two days, he will restore us to life, on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his presence.

Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

"What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud it passes away like the morning dew.

For it is love that I seek, and not sacrifice; knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Gilead is a lawless town; it is polluted by bloodshed.

I have seen a horrible evil in the house of Israel Ephraim's promiscuity. Israel is defiled.

All of them are adulterers they burn like an oven prepared by the baker, who has ceased stoking it until the dough is leavened.

For they have stirred up themselves like an oven as they lie in ambush. Their baker sleeps through the night; in the morning, the oven will be blazing like a fire.

Foreigners have consumed his strength, and he hasn't noticed. Furthermore, his head is sprinkled with gray hair, but he doesn't realize it.

"Ephraim is also like a silly dove, lacking sense: They call out to Egypt, and turn toward Assyria.

When they go, I'll cast my net over them. I'll bring them down, as one shoots birds in the sky. I'll chasten them, as the assembly has already heard.

"Israel has discarded what is good. The enemy will pursue them.

They set kings in place, but not by me. They established princes, whom I did not recognize. They crafted idols for themselves from their silver and gold; as a result, they will be destroyed.

Your calf, Samaria, has been thrown away. My anger is burning against them. How long until they become pure again?

Because from Israel it was fashioned by craftsmen, it is not God; therefore Samaria's calf will be broken in pieces.

The time for your judgment has now come; payday is here and Israel knows it. The prophet is a fool, and the spiritual man is insane. Because of your great sin, the hatred against you is great.

They have corrupted themselves deeply, as did Gibeah in its day. Therefore God will remember their lawlessness, and he will pay them back for their sins.

"I found Israel, as one finds grapes in the wilderness; Your ancestors seemed to me like the fruit gleaned from a fig tree's first harvest. When they went to Baal-peor, they devoted themselves to that filth, and they became loathsome, like what they loved.

Ephraim, as I see it, is like Tyre, planted in a comfortable place; Ephraim will bear children but they will be executed."

Ephraim is blighted; its roots shriveled. It can bear no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill their cherished offspring.

From now on they will say, "We have no king, because we did not fear the LORD and what would a king do for us?'

Their word is falsely given as they make their agreements; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

Destroyed will be the high places of Aven, that are the sin of Israel. Both thorn and thistle will grow up over their altars. They will call out to the mountains, "Cover us!' and to the hills, "Fall on us!'

Sow in righteousness in your own interest, reap in gracious love, break up your own unprepared ground; It is now time to inquire of the LORD, until he comes to pour out righteousness for you.

Therefore a disaster will come upon your people, and all of your fortresses will be ruined. As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in wartime, mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.

My people are determined to turn away from me; though they call to the Most High, no one is worshiping.

Trembling like a bird, they will come out of Egypt, and as a dove from the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," declares the LORD.

He circumvented his brother in the womb, and as an adult he fought with God.

He even fought the angel and won; he cried and prayed to him. Then at Bethel he found him, and there he spoke with us

the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies the LORD is his name.

"Now as for the merchant, deceitful balances remain in his hand, and he loves to defraud.

"Yet I remain the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the festival of that name.

"I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt, and you have known no god except for me, because except for me there is no savior.

As their pastures flourished, all their desires were met. As they were satiated, they became arrogant and therefore ignored me.

Now where is your king? Will he save you in all your cities? And where are your judges, about whom you demanded, "Give me a king and officials!'?

"Ephraim's guilt is on record; his sin is stored away.

"From the power of Sheol I will rescue them, from death I will redeem them. Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? My eyes will remain closed to your pleas for compassion.

Even though he is fruitful compared to his relatives, an east wind will come, the LORD's wind storm from the wilderness, and his spring will evaporate. His fountain will dry up, and the LORD's wind storm will plunder all the expensive vessels of the treasury.

Bring a prepared speech with you as you return to the LORD. Say to him: "Take away all our iniquity, and accept what is good. Then we will present the fruit of our lips.

Assyria won't save us; we won't be riding on horses, Nor will we be saying anymore to the work of our hands, "You are our God." Indeed, in you the orphan finds mercy.'

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right: the righteous follow his example, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Indeed, a nation has invaded my land it is strong and its population is too large to count with teeth like a lion and fangs like a lioness.

"The fields lie in ruins and the ground is dried up. Indeed, the grain is ruined, the new wine has evaporated, and the olive oil has run out.

The grapevine is shriveled and the fig tree is withered, along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree and all of the cultivated trees. Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam's children."

"Put on your mourning clothes, you priests; and cry aloud, you ministering servants at the altar! Come! Stay the night in mourner's clothes, you ministers of my God, because the grain offering and the wine offering is held back from the Temple of your God.

Isn't our food supply cut off right in front of us, along with joy and gladness from the Temple of our God?

"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Tremble, all of you inhabitants of the land, because the Day of the LORD is coming. Oh, how near it is!

"A fire blazes in their presence, and behind them a conflagration rages. Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden; after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland. Indeed, nothing escapes them.

As to their form, they're like horses; and like chariot horses, how they can run!

They leap like the rumbling of chariots echoing from mountain tops, like the roar of wild fire that devours the chaff, as an army firmly established in battle array.

The LORD will shout in the presence of his forces, because his encampment is very great; for powerful is he who carries out his message. Truly the Day of the LORD is great, and very terrifying. Who will be able to survive it?"

Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil.

As they serve between the porch and the altar, let the priests and ministers of the LORD weep and pray: "Spare your people, LORD, and do not make your heritage a disgrace so that nations ridicule them. Why should they say among the people, "Where is their God?"'"

And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later rain as before.

"Then I will restore to you the years that the locust swarm devoured, as did the young locust, the other locusts, and the ravaging locust, that great army of mine that I sent among you.

As a result, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel; that I myself am the LORD your God and there is none other! And my people will never be ashamed."

And everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered. For as the LORD has said, "In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, the survivors whom the LORD is calling.'"

Put in the sickle, because the harvest is ripe. Come and go down, because the winepress is full. The wine vats are overflowing, because their evil is great!

"Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Judgment! For the Day of the LORD is near in the Valley of Judgment!

The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke concerning Israel during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of Joash's son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Damascus and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they have trampled down Gilead with ironclad threshing sleds.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Gaza and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they exiled the entire population, delivering them to Edom.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Tyre and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they delivered the entire population to Edom, and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Edom and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because he pursued his brother with a sword, refusing to be compassionate. His anger was raging continuously; he kept up his unending wrath.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of the Ammonites and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their national borders.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Moab because they cremated the bones of the king of Edom, burning them to lime.

I will execute their rulers among them, killing all of their officials as well," says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Judah and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they rejected the Law of the LORD and did not keep his statutes. Their own lies made them wander off, following along the same path their ancestors walked.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Israel and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they sold the righteous for money, and the poor for sandals,

They lay down beside every altar, on garments pledged as collateral, drinking wine paid for through fines imposed by the temple of their gods.

Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites in front of them, though their height seemed like a cedar, though their strength seemed like an oak, but whose fruit I destroyed from above and the roots from beneath.

I also raised up your sons to be prophets, and from your young men I raised up Nazirites. Is this not true, people of Israel?" declares the LORD.

"Oh, how I am burdened down with you, as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!

Does a bird fall into a snare on the ground without any bait in the trap? Will a trap snap shut when there is nothing to catch?

And when an alarm sounds in the city, the people will tremble, won't they? If there is trouble in a city, the LORD has brought it about, has he not?"

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "An enemy will surround the land. He will pull down your defenses, and plunder your fortified citadels."

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."

The Lord GOD has taken a sacred oath: "The day is coming when they will take you away on fishhooks, every last one of you on fishhooks.

While you're at it, present a thank offering with leaven, and publicize your freewill offerings, letting everyone hear about it, because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis," declares the Lord GOD.

"I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt. I killed your choicest young men with the sword. I took your horses away from you. I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

"I overthrew your cities, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You've become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I am about to do this, prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!"

Look! The one who crafts mountains, who creates the wind, who reveals what he is thinking to mankind, who darkens the morning light, who tramples down the high places of the land the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

Fallen is Israel the virgin never to rise again! She is abandoned on her own land, with no one to raise her up.'

"For this is what the Lord GOD says: "The city that is sending out a thousand will have a hundred left; The city that is sending out a hundred will have ten left of the house of Israel.'"

"For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live,

Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth the LORD is his name.