In Hoshea’s ninth year, the king of Assyria took Samaria, deported the Israelites to Assyria, and settled them in Halah, and at the Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
When its boughs wither, they shall be broken off; and women shall come to kindle fires with them. For this is not an understanding people; therefore their maker shall not spare them; their creator shall not be gracious to them.
He does not think clearly; he lacks the wit and knowledge to say, “Half the wood I burned in the fire, on its embers I baked bread, I roasted meat and ate. Shall I turn the rest into an abomination? Shall I worship a block of wood?”
You shall ask yourself: “Who has borne me these, when I was bereft and barren? Exiled and repudiated, who has reared them? I was left all alone; where then do these come from?”
therefore thus says the Lord God: My servants shall eat, but you shall go hungry; My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;
If I walk out into the field, look! those slain by the sword; If I enter the city, look! victims of famine. Both prophet and priest ply their trade in a land they do not know.
The nobles send their servants for water, but when they come to the cisterns They find no water and return with empty jars. Confounded, despairing, they cover their heads
Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons; Turtledove, swift, and thrush observe the time of their return, But my people do not know the order of the Lord.
My people are ruined for lack of knowledge! Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest; Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” The Cleansing of the Temple.