7:1   and to heal its wounds. But then I see the crimes in Israel and Samaria. Everyone is deceitful; robbers roam the streets.

7:2   No one realizes that I have seen their sins surround them like a flood.

7:3   The king and his officials take great pleasure in their sin and deceit.

7:4   Everyone burns with desire-- they are like coals in an oven, ready to burst into flames.

7:5   On the day their king was crowned, his officials got him drunk, and he joined in their foolishness.

7:6   Their anger is a fire that smolders all night, then flares up at dawn.

7:7   They are flames destroying their leaders. And their kings are powerless; none of them trust me.

7:8   The people of Israel have mixed with foreigners; they are a thin piece of bread scorched on one side.

7:9   They don't seem to realize how weak and feeble they are; their hair has turned gray, while foreigners rule.

7:10   I am the LORD, their God, but in all of their troubles their pride keeps them from returning to me.

7:11   Israel is a senseless bird, fluttering back and forth between Egypt and Assyria.

7:12   But I will catch them in a net as hunters trap birds; I threatened to punish them, and indeed I will.

7:13   Trouble and destruction will be their reward for rejecting me. I would have rescued them, but they told me lies.

7:14   They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds. They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves, in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.

7:15   I taught them what they know, and I made them strong. Now they plot against me

7:16   and refuse to obey. They are more useless than a crooked arrow. Their leaders will die in war for saying foolish things. Egyptians will laugh at them.