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for the Lord brings a charge
against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no covenant loyalty,
and no knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is cursing, lying, and murder,
stealing, and adultery—
all without restraint;
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air suffer,
and even the fish of the sea are dying.
4 “But let no one dispute,
and let no one accuse another,
for My case
is against you priests.
5 You will stumble by day;
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother.
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will also reject you from serving as My priests;
because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children.
7 The more the priests increased,
the more they sinned against Me.
I will change their honour into disgrace.
8 They feed on the sins of My people;
they have an appetite for their iniquity.
9 And it will be: Like people, like priest.
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 “They will eat but not be satisfied;
they will indulge in prostitution but not increase.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord
to give themselves over
11 to prostitution,
and to wine and new wine,
which takes away their understanding.
12 My people consult their wooden idols,
and their divining rods answer them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray,
for they prostitute themselves
by their unfaithfulness to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops;
they burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves go off with whores
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes—
so a people without understanding come to their ruin!
15 “Though you commit adultery, O Israel,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal,
or go up to Beth-aven,
and do not swear an oath, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
How can the Lord pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are finished,
they continue on their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love disgraceful lewdness.
19 A whirlwind will sweep them away in its wings,
and their sacrifices will cover them with shame.