7:1 and to heal its wounds. But then I see the crimes in Israel and Samaria. Everyone is deceitful; robbers roam the streets.
7:2 No one realizes that I have seen their sins surround them like a flood.
7:3 The king and his officials take great pleasure in their sin and deceit.
7:4 Everyone burns with desire— they are like coals in an oven, ready to burst into flames.
7:5 On the day their king was crowned, his officials got him drunk, and he joined in their foolishness.
7:6 Their anger is a fire that smolders all night, then flares up at dawn.
7:7 They are flames destroying their leaders. And their kings are powerless; none of them trust me.
7:8 The people of Israel have mixed with foreigners; they are a thin piece of bread scorched on one side.
7:9 They don't seem to realize how weak and feeble they are; their hair has turned gray, while foreigners rule.
7:10 I am the Lord, their God, but in all of their troubles their pride keeps them from returning to me.
7:11 Israel is a senseless bird, fluttering back and forth between Egypt and Assyria.
7:12 But I will catch them in a net as hunters trap birds; I threatened to punish them, and indeed I will.
7:13 Trouble and destruction will be their reward for rejecting me. I would have rescued them, but they told me lies.
7:14 They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds. They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves, in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.
7:15 I taught them what they know, and I made them strong. Now they plot against me
7:16 and refuse to obey. They are more useless than a crooked arrow. Their leaders will die in war for saying foolish things. Egyptians will laugh at them.
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