4:1 Hear this word, you ①cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who exploit the poor, who oppress the needy,
②And say to their ③husbands, “Bring now, that we may drink!”
▷ ①I.e., haughty, prominent women ②Lit Who ③Lit lords
4:2 The Lord ①GOD has sworn by His holiness,
“For behold, the days are coming upon you
When ②they will take you away with meat hooks,
And the last of you with fish hooks.
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch ②Lit he
4:3 You will go out through holes in the walls,
One in front of the other,
And you ①will be hurled to Harmon,” declares the LORD.
▷ ①As in LXX; MT will hurl
4:4 “Enter Bethel and do wrong;
In Gilgal multiply wrongdoing!
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days.
4:5 ①Offer a thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened,
And proclaim ②voluntary offerings, make them known.
For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord GOD.
▷ ①Lit Offer up in smoke ②Or freewill offerings
4:6 “But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.
4:7 “Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
But on another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
4:8 So the people of two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.
4:9 “I struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
The caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.
4:10 “I sent a plague among you ①as in Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses,
And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.
▷ ①Lit in the way of Egypt
4:11 “I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a log snatched from a fire;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.
4:12 “Therefore so I will do to you, Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, Israel.”
4:13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind,
And declares to a person what are His thoughts,
He who makes dawn into darkness
And treads on the high places of the earth,
The LORD God of armies is His name.