5
Yahweh’s accusation against the Israeli people
1 “Listen, you priests!
And you other Israeli people, you also pay attention!
And you who are members of the king’s family, you also need to listen,
because I am going to judge you!
Your worshiping idols has been like [MET] a trap for the people at Mizpah town;
it has been like [MET] a net spread out to catch people at Tabor Mountain.
2 You have done many evil things,
so I will punish all of you.
3 I know everything about the people of Israel;
nothing that they have done is hidden from me.
Because the people of Israel have given themselves to worshiping idols
like [MET] prostitutes give themselves to the men they sleep with,
they have become unacceptable to me.
4 Because they like to do evil things,
they will not return to me, their God.
Like prostitutes who have abandoned their husbands [MET], they have [IDM] abandoned [MET] me;
they do not even know me, Yahweh.
5 It is as though their being proud testifies [PRS] against them.
The sins that the people of Israel have committed are like a heavy load that causes them to stumble,
and the people of Judah stumble with them.
6 They will come to worship me, Yahweh,
bringing their herds of sheep and cattle,
but they will not be able to find me,
because I have abandoned them.
7 They have abandoned me;
and their children do not belong to me [MET].
So they will not be able to celebrate their festivals at the new moons
because I will destroy them and the crops in their fields.
8 Blow the rams’ horns in Gibeah town
and blow the trumpets in Ramah town!
Warn the people at Beth-Aven town;
you warriors of the tribe of Benjamin, lead the troops into the battle.
9 Israel will be ruined on the day that I destroy them.
What I am telling to the tribes of Israel will certainly happen.
10 Because the leaders of Judah seized some land that belonged to Israel,
they are like [SIM] those who move boundary markers to get more land for themselves;
so I will punish them severely [MET].
11 And the people of Israel will suffer greatly when I punish them,
because they are very determined to worship idols.
12 I will destroy the people of Israel like [SIM] ◄larvae of moths/cockroaches► destroy wool,
and I will cause the people of Judah to be like [SIM] rotten wood.
13 When the leaders of Israel and Judah saw that the people were suffering
because of what their enemies were doing to them [MET],
they sent messages to the great King of Assyria
requesting his help.
But he cannot help you;
he cannot cause you to stop suffering,
because I am the one who is punishing Israel and Judah.
14 I will become like [SIM] a lion [DOU] to both nations;
I will attack them and tear them to pieces.
I will drag them away,
and no one will be able to rescue them.
15 After that, I will return to my place in heaven
until they admit that they have sinned [MTY] and return to me;
when they will experience many troubles,
they will request me to help them.”