Amos 5:21-27; Isaiah 1:10-17; Micah 6:6-8; Isaiah 66:1-3; Jeremiah 7:9-10; 1 Samuel 15:10-24; Jeremiah 6:18-21; Jeremiah 7:22-23; Leviticus 26:14-33; Jeremiah 14:12; Hosea 5:1-6

Amos 5:21-27

21 "I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.

23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

24 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 "Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?

26 "You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.

27 "Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD , whose name is the God of hosts.

Isaiah 1:10-17

10 Hear the word of the LORD , You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah.

11 "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD . "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.

12 "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

13 "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

14 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight . Cease to do evil,

17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

Micah 6:6-8

6 With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?

7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

Isaiah 66:1-3

1 Thus says the LORD , "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool . Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?

2 "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD . "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

3 "But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine's blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,

Jeremiah 7:9-10

9 "Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known,

10 then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!'-that you may do all these abominations?

1 Samuel 15:10-24

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

11 "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night.

12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."

13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD ! I have carried out the command of the LORD ."

14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

15 Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."

16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"

17 Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel,

18 and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.'

19 "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD , but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ?"

20 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD , and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 "But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

22 Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD , He has also rejected you from being king."

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

Jeremiah 6:18-21

18 "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 "Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

20 "For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me."

21 Therefore, thus says the LORD , "Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish."

Jeremiah 7:22-23

22 "For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

23 "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'

Leviticus 26:14-33

14 'But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments,

15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,

16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.

17 'I will set My face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.

18 'If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19 'I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.

20 'Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

21 'If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.

22 'I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.

23 'And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me,

24 then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins.

25 'I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands.

26 'When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.

27 'Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me,

28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.

29 'Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.

30 'I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.

31 'I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas.

32 'I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it.

33 'You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste.

Jeremiah 14:12

12 "When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."

Hosea 5:1-6

1 Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, For you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out on Tabor.

2 The revolters have gone deep in depravity, But I will chastise all of them.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself.

4 Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the LORD .

5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them.

6 They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the LORD , but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.