New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law.
1
Put the horn to your mouth. He comes like an eagle against the house of the Lord; because they have gone against my agreement, they have not kept my law.
2 Israel cries to me, "My God, we—Israel—know you!"
2
They will send up to me a cry for help: We, Israel, have knowledge of you, O God of Israel.
3 Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him.
3
Israel has given up what is good; his haters will go after him.
4 They made kings, but not through me; they set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.
4
They have put up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, but I had no knowledge of it; they have made images of silver and gold, so that they may be cut off.
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
5
I will have nothing to do with your young ox, O Samaria; my wrath is burning against them; how long will it be before the children of Israel make themselves clean?
6 For it is from Israel, an artisan made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
6
The workman made it, it is no god; the ox of Samaria will be broken into bits.
7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield, foreigners would devour it.
7
For they have been planting the wind, and their fruit will be the storm; his grain has no stem, it will give no meal, and if it does, a strange nation will take it.
8 Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the nations as a useless vessel.
8
Israel has come to destruction; now they are among the nations like a cup in which there is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass wandering alone; Ephraim has bargained for lovers.
9
For they have gone up to Assyria like an ass going by himself; Ephraim has given money to get lovers.
10 Though they bargain with the nations, I will now gather them up. They shall soon writhe under the burden of kings and princes.
10
But though they give money to the nations for help, still I will send them in all directions; and in a short time they will be without a king and rulers.
11 When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin, they became to him altars for sinning.
11
Because Ephraim has been increasing altars for sin, altars have become a cause of sin to him.
12 Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions, they are regarded as a strange thing.
12
Though I put my law in writing for him in ten thousand rules, they are to him as a strange thing.
13 Though they offer choice sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
13
He gives the offerings of his lovers, and takes the flesh for food; but the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep in mind their evil-doing and give them the punishment of their sins; they will go back to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his strongholds.
14
For Israel has no memory of his Maker, and has put up the houses of kings; and Judah has made great the number of his walled towns. But I will send a fire on his towns and put an end to his great houses.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.