Warnings to Israel

28 Terrible things will happen to Samaria city, the capital of Israel!

It is on a hill above a fertile valley;

the people who live there, who get drunk by drinking too much wine, are very proud;

it is a beautiful and glorious city,

but some day that beauty will disappear like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up.

2 Listen to this: Yahweh will cause a great army to attack Samaria.

Their soldiers will be like [SIM] a huge hailstorm or a very strong wind;

they will be everywhere, like the water of a huge flood,

and they will smash to the ground the buildings in Samaria.

3 The people of Samaria are proud,

but everything that the drunks who live there think is wonderful/glorious will be trampled on by their enemies.

4 Yes, Samaria is beautiful, set on a hill above a fertile valley, but that beauty will disappear

like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up.

Whenever someone sees a good fig at the beginning of the season when figs become ripe, he quickly picks and eats it;

similarly, when the enemies of Israel see all the beautiful things in Samaria,

they will quickly conquer the city and take away all those things.

5 At that time, the Commander of the armies of angels will be like a glorious wreath of flowers for us Israeli people

who are still alive after being exiled.

6 He will cause our judges to want to do what is fair/just

when they decide people’s cases.

He will enable the soldiers who stand at the city gates

to strongly defend the city when our enemies attack it.

7 But now, our leaders stagger/stumble

because they have drunk a lot of wine and other alcoholic drinks.

The priests and prophets also stagger

because of drinking a lot of wine and other alcoholic drinks.

They are not able to think right;

they see visions but they cannot understand what they mean;

they are unable to decide things correctly.

8 All their tables are covered with their vomit;

filth is everywhere.

9 They ridicule Yahweh saying, “Who does he think that he is teaching?

Why is he talking to us like this?

Does he think that we are little children

who have recently been weaned?

10 He continually tells us, ‘Do this, do that;’

first he tells us one rule, then another rule,

he tells us only one line at a time.”

11 So now, Yahweh will need to force them to listen to Assyrians

speaking to them in a language that they do not understand.

12 Yahweh told his people long ago,

“This is a place where you can rest;

you are exhausted from all your travels through the desert,

but you will be able to rest in this land.”

But they refused to pay attention to what he said.

13 So Yahweh continues to tell the people of Samaria,

one line at a time, “Do this, do that,”

first one rule and then another rule.

But because of their ignoring what God said, they will be attacked and defeated;

they will be wounded and snared and captured.