|
|
1. What Israel does is as useless as chasing the wind; he chases the east wind all day. They tell more and more lies and do more and more violence. They make agreements with Assyria, and they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.
|
1.
|
2. The Lord also has some things against Judah. He will punish Israel for what they have done; he will give them what they deserve.
|
2.
|
3. Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother's heel while the two of them were being born. When he grew to be a man, he wrestled with God.
|
3.
|
4. When Jacob wrestled with the angel and won, he cried and asked for his blessing. Later, God met with him at Bethel and spoke with him there.
|
4.
|
5. It was the Lord God All-Powerful; the Lord is his great name.
|
5.
|
6. You must return to your God; love him, do what is just, and always trust in him as your God.
|
6.
|
7. The merchants use dishonest scales; they like to cheat people.
|
7.
|
8. Israel said, "I am rich! I am someone with power!" All their money will do them no good because of the sins they have done.
|
8.
|
9. "But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again as you used to do on worship days.
|
9.
|
10. I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions; through them, I taught my lessons to you."
|
10.
|
11. The people of Gilead are evil, worth nothing. Though people sacrifice bulls at Gilgal, their altars will become like piles of stone in a plowed field.
|
11.
|
12. Your ancestor Jacob fled to Northwest Mesopotamia where he worked to get a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.
|
12.
|
13. Later the Lord used a prophet to bring Jacob's descendants out of Egypt; he used a prophet to take care of the Israelites.
|
13.
|
14. But the Israelites made the Lord angry when they killed other people, and they deserve to die for their crimes. for the disgraceful things they have done.
|
14.
|