6
This is what the Lord says:
“The people of Israel have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sell honorable people for silver
and poor people for a pair of sandals.
7
They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Both father and son sleep with the same woman,
corrupting my holy name.
8
At their religious festivals,
they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security.
In the house of their gods, 1
they drink wine bought with unjust fines.
9
“But as my people watched,
I destroyed the Amorites,
though they were as tall as cedars
and as strong as oaks.
I destroyed the fruit on their branches
and dug out their roots.
10
It was I who rescued you from Egypt
and led you through the desert for forty years,
so you could possess the land of the Amorites.
11
I chose some of your sons to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.
Can you deny this, my people of Israel?”
asks the Lord .
12
“But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine,
and you commanded the prophets, ‘Shut up!’
13
“So I will make you groan
like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain.
14
Your fastest runners will not get away.
The strongest among you will become weak.
Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.
15
The archers will not stand their ground.
The swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to escape.
Even those riding horses won’t be able to save themselves.
16
On that day the most courageous of your fighting men
will drop their weapons and run for their lives,”
says the Lord .