Verse 6
God Will Judge Israel This is what the LORD says:“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.
Referenced Verses
- Joel 3:3 : 3 and they cast lots for my people. They traded a boy for a prostitute; they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink.
- Amos 5:11-12 : 11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted. 12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate.
- Mic 3:2-3 : 2 yet you hate what is good, and love what is evil. You flay my people’s skin and rip the flesh from their bones. 3 You devour my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and crush their bones. You chop them up like flesh in a pot– like meat in a kettle.
- 2 Kgs 18:12 : 12 This happened because they did not obey the LORD their God and broke his covenant with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the LORD’s servant, had commanded.
- Isa 5:22-23 : 22 Beware, those who are champions at drinking, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks. 23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.
- Isa 29:21 : 21 those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.
- Ezek 23:5-9 : 5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians– warriors 6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired– with all their idols. 8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men went to bed with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted.
- Hos 4:1-2 : 1 The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel Listen to the LORD’s message, you Israelites! For the LORD has a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel. For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land, nor do they acknowledge God. 2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.
- Hos 4:11-14 : 11 Judgment of Pagan Idolatry and Cultic Prostitution Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people. 12 They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery against their God. 13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery! 14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men consort with harlots, they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. It is true:“A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”
- Hos 7:7-9 : 7 All of them are blazing like an oven; they devour their rulers. All of their kings fall– and none of them call on me! 8 Israel Lacks Discernment and Refuses to Repent Ephraim has mixed itself like flour among the nations; Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side. 9 Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, but he does not recognize it! His head is filled with gray hair, but he does not realize it! 10 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him, yet they refuse to return to the LORD their God! In spite of all this they refuse to seek him!
- Hos 8:4-6 : 4 The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel They enthroned kings without my consent! They appointed princes without my approval! They made idols out of their silver and gold, but they will be destroyed! 5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites! 6 That idol was made by a workman– it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
- Hos 13:2-3 : 2 Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them:“Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!” 3 Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.
- Mic 6:10-16 : 10 “I will not overlook, O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. 11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales, or a bag of deceptive weights. 12 The city’s wealthy people readily resort to violence; her inhabitants tell lies, their tongues speak deceptive words. 13 I will strike you brutally and destroy you because of your sin. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength to overtake some prey, you will not be able to carry it away; if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword. 15 You will plant crops, but will not harvest them; you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. 16 You follow Omri’s edicts, and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, the city’s inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you.”
- 2 Kgs 17:7-9 : 7 A Summary of Israel’s Sinful History This happened because the Israelites sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods; 8 they observed the practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before them, and followed the example of the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites said things about the LORD their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the LORD had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the LORD angry. 12 They worshiped the disgusting idols in blatant disregard of the LORD’s command. 13 The LORD solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers,“Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” 14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, who had not trusted the LORD their God. 15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to the LORD. They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the LORD’s command. 16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, and worshiped Baal. 17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD and made him angry. 18 So the LORD was furious with Israel and rejected them; only the tribe of Judah was left.
- Amos 6:3-7 : 3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, but you establish a reign of violence. 4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, and sprawl out on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the pen. 5 They sing to the tune of stringed instruments; like David they invent musical instruments. 6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves. Yet they are not concerned over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, and the religious banquets where they sprawl on couches will end.
- Amos 8:4-6 : 4 Listen to this, you who trample the needy, and do away with the destitute in the land. 5 You say,“When will the new moon festival be over, so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, so we can open up the grain bins? We’re eager to sell less for a higher price, and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! 6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, a pair of sandals for the needy! We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”
- Joel 3:6 : 6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks, removing them far from their own country.