1 “I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great.Samaria is filled with liars.Thieves are on the insideand bandits on the outside!
2 Its people don’t realizethat I am watching them.Their sinful deeds are all around them,and I see them all.
3 “The people entertain the king with their wickedness,and the princes laugh at their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,always aflame with lust.They are like an oven that is kept hotwhile the baker is kneading the dough.
5 On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,carousing with those who mock them.
6 Their hearts are like an ovenblazing with intrigue.Their plot smolders through the night,and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.