1 Give heed to this word, you cows {parot: pampered elite} of Bashan, who are on Samaria’s hill, who oppress the poor and crush the needy {evyonim: destitute ones}, who say to their husbands, “Bring, so that we may drink.”
2 The Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Sovereign Judge} has sworn by His holiness: “Look, days are coming upon you, and they will carry you away with hooks {tzinot: capture hooks}, and even the last of you with fish baskets.”
3 You will go out through the breaches, each woman {ishah: each woman} straight ahead, and you will be thrown to Harmonah, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Enforcer}.
4 Go on, enter Bethel and rebel {pish'u: covenant revolt}; to Gilgal {gilgal: ritual site}—multiply transgression. Bring your sacrifices in the morning, and your tithes every third day.
5 Burn as an offering a thanksgiving offering {todah: gratitude sacrifice} with leaven, and call out freewill offerings; cause them to be heard {hasmiu: broadcast publicly}. For thus you have loved, O sons of Israel—utterance of the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Covenant Prosecutor}.
6 I also gave you clean{niqyon: nothing eaten} teeth in all your cities, and a shortage of bread in all your places; yet you did not return to Me, declares the LORD {YHWH, Famine Sender}.
7 And also I {YHWH, Sovereign Withholder} kept the rain back from you while there were still three months before the harvest {qatsir: reaping time}; I made rain fall on one city, but on another city I did not make it fall. One plot was rained on, but the plot that did not receive rain dried up.
8 And two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; and you did not return to Me {adai: toward Me}, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Rebuker}.
9 I struck you with blight{shidafon: hot blast} and with mildew; the locust devoured your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees; yet you did not return to Me, declares the LORD{YHWH, Covenant Corrector}.
10 I sent a pestilence {dever: sweeping plague} among you in the pattern of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, with your horses taken captive; I caused the stench of your camps to rise, even into your nostrils; yet you did not return to Me, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}.
11 I overturned some of you, like God {Elohim, Overthrowing Judge} overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a firebrand rescued from burning; yet you did not return to Me, a declaration of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Confronter}.
12 Therefore, Israel, this is what I will do to you; and since I will do this to you, prepare {hikkon: steady resolve} to meet your God {eloheikha, Coming Judge}, Israel.
13 For look, the One who forms the mountains and creates the wind, who declares to a human what His thought{secho: His intent} is, who makes dawn darkness, and who treads upon the high places of the earth—the LORD {YHWH, Creator Ruler}, the God of hosts {Elohei-tsevaot, Armies Commander}, is His name.