Retribution for Israel’s Sin 1 UST The people of Israel are{ selfish, like} a productive vine that establishes its fruit for itself. The more the people prospered, the more altars they built{ to worship idols}. The more their land produced, the more elaborate they made their pillars{ to idols}. BSB BSB: Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
2 UST The people of Israel deceive themselves; now they must suffer for their sins. Yahweh will be the one to tear down their altars and smash their{ sacred} pillars. BSB BSB: Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.
3 UST Indeed, soon they will say,“We have no king because we did not honor Yahweh. However, even if we had a king, he could not do anything to help us.” BSB BSB: Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?”
4 UST The people of Israel make{ false} promises; they swear empty oaths and make agreements{ that they do not keep}. So people accuse each other to the judges and the number of these harmful legal disputes is multiplying throughout the land like poisonous weeds in a plowed field. BSB BSB: They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
5 UST The people who live in Samaria will be afraid about what will happen to the calf idol of Beth Aven. Indeed, the people who worship it will mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests who serve that idol will cry out about it and about how splendid it was, because it will be splendid no more. BSB BSB: The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced in its glory—for it has been taken from them into exile.
6 UST The enemy will carry the idol itself to Assyria as a gift for its king. The people of Ephraim will be ashamed, yes, all of the people of Israel will feel humiliated because what they had believed and lived by was wrong. BSB BSB: Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
7 UST The king of Samaria will be no more.{ He will go away} like a chip of wood{ floating away} on the surface of the water. BSB BSB: Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 UST Yahweh will destroy the places on the hilltops, like Beth Aven, where the people of Israel sin{ by worshiping idols}. Thorns and weeds will grow up and cover their altars. Then the people will beg the mountains and hills,“Fall down on us and cover us{ to protect us from Yahweh}!” BSB BSB: The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 UST Israel, you have been sinning ever since your ancestors did those terrible things at Gibeah, and you have continued doing such things ever since then. War will certainly overtake all of the wicked people in Gibeah. BSB BSB: Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?
10 UST { Yahweh says,}“When I decide to act, I will punish them. I will gather armies from other nations to attack them and capture them because of their double sin. BSB BSB: I will chasten them when I please; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bondage for their double transgression.
11 UST The people of Ephraim were like a young cow that someone had trained and that was happy to walk around on the stalks of grain. Its neck was flawless{ because no one had ever put a yoke on it}. But for my part, I will ignore its beautiful neck. Now I will make the people of Ephraim work hard, as though they were a young cow that I was harnessing for the first time. It will be as though the people of Judah will have to plow, yes, it will be as though the people of Jacob will have to break up the hard ground with no one to help them. BSB BSB: Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground.
12 UST Start doing what is right, as though you were planting good seeds, and it will be as though you were harvesting the crop from those good seeds when I reward you for being faithful to me. Do the hard work of{ changing your ways as though you were} plowing new ground. Now is when you must start to know me. Then I will come and abundantly bless you by doing what is right for you. BSB BSB: Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
13 UST But instead of that, you have done what is wicked, which is like planting poisonous crops, and it is as though you have harvested and eaten those crops because what you have done has made you lie to each other and treat each other unjustly. You did this because you deceived yourselves, thinking that you knew the best way to do things and that your many soldiers would protect you. BSB BSB: You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,
14 UST But{ they will not;} your enemies will attack you, and they will destroy all of your strong cities, just as Shalman destroyed the city of Beth Arbel, when his soldiers bashed mothers to death on top of their children. BSB BSB: the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.
15 UST I will do the same thing to you, people of Bethel, because you are extremely wicked.{ When the battle begins} at dawn, the enemy will completely destroy the king of Israel. BSB BSB: Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.