4:1
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria,
which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to
their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
4:2
The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come
upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with
fishhooks.
4:3
And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before
her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
(4:6-11) God afflicted the Israelites with "cleanness of
teeth" (famine,) drought, blasting, and mildew. He killed them with pestilence, slaughtered them with the sword,
and "made the stink of their camps come up into their noses." Destroyed them like they were from Sodom and Gomorrah.
And yet they still didn't return to him. What is wrong with people?
(4:6) "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want
of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD."
(4:7) "I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest:
and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon,
and the piece whereupon it rained not withered."
(4:8) "So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they
were not satisfied: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the LORD."
(4:9) "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew ... yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."
(4:10) "I have sent among you the pestilence ... your young men have I slain with the sword ...
and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."
(4:11) "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye
were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned
unto me, saith the LORD."
4:4
Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and
bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
4:5
And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and
publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD.
4:6And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want
of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD.
4:7
And also I have withholden the
rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it
not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece
whereupon it rained not withered.
4:8So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they
were not satisfied: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the LORD.
4:9I have smitten you with blasting
and mildew: when your gardens and your
vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm
devoured them: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the LORD.
4:10I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I
slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the
stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the LORD.
4:11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye
were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned
unto me, saith the LORD.
4:12Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this
unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
(4:12) "Therefore thus will I do unto thee .... Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."
4:13
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and
declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness,
and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts,
is his name.
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