1. Listen to me, you fat cowsliving in Samaria,you women who oppress the poorand crush the needy,and who are always calling to your husbands,“Bring us another drink!”
2. The Sovereign lord has sworn this by his holiness:“The time will come when you will be led awaywith hooks in your noses.Every last one of you will be dragged awaylike a fish on a hook!
3. You will be led out through the ruins of the wall;you will be thrown from your fortresses,”says the lord.
4. “Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel.Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.Offer sacrifices each morning,and bring your tithes every three days.
5. Present your bread made with yeastas an offering of thanksgiving.Then give your extra voluntary offeringsso you can brag about it everywhere!This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,”says the Sovereign lord.
6. “I brought hunger to every cityand famine to every town.But still you would not return to me,”says the lord.
7. “I kept the rain from fallingwhen your crops needed it the most.I sent rain on one townbut withheld it from another.Rain fell on one field,while another field withered away.
8. People staggered from town to town looking for water,but there was never enough.But still you would not return to me,”says the lord.
9. “I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.But still you would not return to me,”says the lord.