"Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
"For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins; they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right....
"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
"Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
"Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed."—Amos 5 and 6.
Not long after, Hosea came forward with the startling and altogether unpleasant message that Jehovah was not the God of the Hebrews alone, but of the whole world. That he was a God of righteousness, and rewarded it wherever found, and punished evil doing, regardless of the doer. He touched a new chord when he taught that God was love, full of compassion and plenteous in mercy. Heretofore law had been the pivot around which religion centered, and the ritual was observed and the sacrifice provided. These attended to, Jehovah was supposed to be appeased. Hosea taught that the sacrifice of burnt offerings availed nothing—that the sacrifice demanded was "an humble and a contrite heart."
A new era was dawning for the Hebrew faith, and truth-divining men grasped at fundamental principles, applicable alike to the whole world. It is not surprising that long years elapsed before such broad conceptions sank deep into the hearts of the Hebrew race. One of their kingdoms was scattered to the winds before these were comprehended, save, indeed, by a few, far-sighted minds; the other kingdom passed through the humiliation of captivity and exile and through these vicissitudes learned the truths from actual experience.
"Hear ye this, O priests; and harken, ye house of Israel; and give ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor....
"The pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a mouth devour them with their portions....
"O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away....