Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Recognise how evil and bitter it is for you to abandon the Lord your God and to have no fear of me. This is the declaration of the Lord God of Armies.
Tell them, “As I live #– #this is the declaration of the Lord God #– #I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel? ”
The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognise it! The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitude of your iniquity and hostility.
Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your unploughed ground. It is time to seek the Lord until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.
But Ephraim thinks, ‘How rich I have become; I made it all myself. In all my earnings, no one can find any iniquity in me that I can be punished for! ’
and Hazael asked, ‘Why is my lord weeping? ’ He replied, ‘Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their children to pieces. You will rip open their pregnant women.’
Your elder sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you, and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to the south of you.
The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites for three crimes, even four, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.