1. Listen to me, you cows of Bashan on Samaria’s mountain. You hurt the poor and crush those in need. You tell your husbands, “Bring us something to drink!”
2. The Lord GOD made a promise. He promised by his holiness that troubles will come to you. People will use hooks and take you away as prisoners. They will use fishhooks to take away your children.
3. Your city will be destroyed. The women will rush out through cracks in the wall and throw themselves onto the pile of dead bodies. This is what the Lord says:
4. “Go to Bethel and sin. Go to Gilgal and sin even more. Offer your sacrifices in the morning. Bring a tenth of your crops for the three-day festival.
5. And offer a thank offering made with yeast. Tell everyone about the freewill offerings. Israel, you love to do those things. So go and do them.” This is what the Lord GOD said.
6. “I didn’t give you any food to eat. There was no food in any of your cities, but you didn’t come back to me.” This is what the Lord said.
7. “I also stopped the rain, and it was three months before harvest time. So no crops grew. Then I let it rain on one city, but not on another city. Rain fell on one part of the country, but on the other part of the country, the land became very dry.
8. So the people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water, but there was not enough water for everyone. Still you didn’t come to me for help.” This is what the Lord said.