Hosea 10:1-14:9 1 Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit. As his fruit multiplied, he multiplied altars to Baal.
As his land prospered, they adorned the fertility pillars.
2 Their heart is slipping; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The
Lord will break their altars; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.
3 Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the
Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”
4 They
utter empty words,
taking
false oaths and making empty
agreements. Therefore legal disputes sprout up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of a plowed field.
5 The inhabitants
of Samaria will lament
over the calf idol
of Beth Aven.
Its people will mourn over it; its idolatrous priests will wail
over it,
because its splendor will be taken from them
into exile.
6 Even the calf idol
will be carried to Assyria, as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be put to shame because
of its wooden idol.
7 Samaria and its king will be carried off
like a twig
on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places of the “House
of Wickedness”
will be destroyed; it is the place where Israel sins. Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 O Israel, you have sinned since the time
of Gibeah, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please,
I will discipline them;
I will gather nations together to attack them,
to bind them in chains
for their two sins.
11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yoke
on her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow!
Let Jacob break up
the unplowed ground for himself!
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love. Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves, for it is time to seek the
Lord, until he comes and showers deliverance
on you.
13 But you have plowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your chariots;
you have relied
on your many warriors.
14 The roar of battle will rise against your people; all your fortresses will be devastated, just as Shalman devastated
Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15 So will it happen to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness! When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be destroyed.
1 When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son,
and I summoned my son
out of Egypt.
2 But the more I summoned
them, the farther they departed from me.
They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images.
3 Yet it was I who led
Ephraim, I took them by the arm; but they did not acknowledge that I had healed them.
4 I led them with leather
cords, with leather
ropes; I lifted the yoke
from their neck,
and gently fed them.
5 They will return to Egypt!
Assyria will rule over them
because they refuse to repent!
6 A sword will flash in their cities, it will destroy the bars of their city gates, and will devour them in their fortresses.
7 My people are obsessed
with turning away from me;
they call to Baal,
but he will never exalt them!
8 How can I give you up,
O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart!
All my tender compassions are aroused!
9 I cannot carry out
my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you – I will not come in wrath!
10 He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the
Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling
from the west.
11 They will return in fear and trembling
like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria, and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the
Lord.
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me
with deceit. But Judah still roams about with
God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.
1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties
with Assyria, and send olive oil as tribute
to Egypt.
2 The
Lord also has a covenant lawsuit
against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled
with God.
4 He struggled
with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God
at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him!
5 As for the
Lord God Almighty, the
Lord is the name by which he is remembered!
6 But you must return
to your God, by maintaining love and justice, and by waiting
for your God to return to you.
7 The businessmen love to cheat;
they use dishonest scales.
8 Ephraim boasts,
“I am very rich! I have become wealthy!
In all that I have done to gain my wealth,
no one can accuse me of any offense
that is actually sinful.”
9 “I am the
Lord your God
who brought you
out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old.
10 I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions;
I spoke in parables
through
the prophets.”
11 Is there idolatry
in Gilead?
Certainly its inhabitants
will come to nothing!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked
to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.
13 The
Lord brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet, and due to a prophet
Israel
was preserved alive.
14 But Ephraim bitterly
provoked him to anger; so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed,
his Lord
will repay him for the contempt he has shown.
1 When Ephraim
spoke,
there was terror;
he was exalted
in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.
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.
4 But I am the
Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me; except me there is no Savior.
5 I cared
for you in the wilderness, in the dry desert where no water was.
6 When they were fed,
they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud;
as a result, they forgot me!
7 So
I will pounce on them like a lion;
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs – I will rip open their chests. I will devour them there like a lion – like a wild animal would tear them apart.
9 I will destroy you,
O Israel! Who
is there to help you?
10 Where
then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are
your rulers for whom you asked, saying, “Give me a king and princes”?
11 I granted
you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath!
12 The punishment
of Ephraim has been decreed;
his punishment is being stored up for the future.
13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb!
14 Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not!
Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues!
O Sheol, bring on your destruction!
My eyes will not show any compassion!
15 Even though he flourishes like a reed plant,
a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the
Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up;
his well will become dry. That wind
will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.
16 Samaria will be held guilty,
because she rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, their infants will be dashed to the ground – their
pregnant women will be ripped open.
1 Return, O Israel, to the
Lord your God, for your sin has been your downfall!
2 Return to the
Lord and repent!
Say to him: “Completely
forgive our iniquity; accept
our penitential prayer,
that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls.
3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger will turn
away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily, he will send down his roots like a cedar of
Lebanon.
6 His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will reside again
in his shade; they will plant and harvest grain in abundance.
They will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do
with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like
a luxuriant cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me!
9 Who is wise? Let him discern
these things! Who is discerning? Let him understand them! For the ways of the
Lord are right; the godly walk in them, but in them the rebellious stumble.
Context (NET) Jude 1:1-25 1 From Jude,
a slave
of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
to those who are called, wrapped in the love of
God the Father and kept for
Jesus Christ.
2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you!
3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you
about our common salvation, I now feel compelled
instead to write to encourage
you to contend earnestly
for the faith
that was once for all
entrusted to the saints.
4 For certain men
have secretly slipped in among you
– men who long ago
were marked out
for the condemnation I am about to describe
– ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil
and who deny our only Master
and Lord,
Jesus Christ.
5 Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts
once for all
) that Jesus,
having saved the
people out of the land of Egypt, later
destroyed those who did not believe.
6 You also know that
the angels who did not keep within their proper domain
but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept
in eternal chains
in utter
darkness, locked up
for the judgment of the great Day.
7 So also
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,
since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire
in a way similar to
these angels,
are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet these men,
as a result of their dreams,
defile the flesh, reject authority,
and insult
the glorious ones.
9 But even
when Michael the archangel
was arguing with the devil and debating with him
concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”
10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend.
11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path,
and because of greed
have abandoned themselves
to
Balaam’s error; hence,
they will certainly perish
in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These men are
dangerous reefs
at your love feasts,
feasting without reverence,
feeding only themselves.
They are
waterless
clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit
– twice dead,
uprooted;
13 wild sea waves,
spewing out the foam of
their shame;
wayward stars
for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness
have been reserved.
14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam,
even prophesied of them,
saying, “Look! The Lord is coming
with thousands and thousands
of his holy ones,
15 to execute judgment on
all, and to convict every person
of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds
that they have committed,
and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
16 These people are grumblers and
fault-finders who go
wherever their desires lead them,
and they give bombastic speeches,
enchanting folks
for their own gain.
17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions
foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come
scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.”
19 These people are divisive,
worldly,
devoid of the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 maintain
yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.
22 And have mercy on those who waver;
23 save
others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy
on others, coupled with a fear of God,
hating even the clothes stained
by the flesh.
24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling,
and to cause you to stand, rejoicing,
without blemish
before his glorious presence,
25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.
Context (NET) Psalm 127:1-5 1 A song of ascents,
by Solomon. If the
Lord does not build a house,
then those who build it work in vain. If the
Lord does not guard a city,
then the watchman stands guard in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food.
Yes,
he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep.
3 Yes,
sons
are a gift from the
Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.
5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! They will not be put to shame
when they confront
enemies at the city gate.
Context (NET) Proverbs 29:15-17 15 A rod and reproof
impart
wisdom, but a child who is unrestrained
brings shame
to his mother.
16 When the wicked increase,
transgression increases, but the righteous will see
their downfall.
17 Discipline your child, and he will give you rest;
he will bring you
happiness.
Context (NET)
_________________
I'm a bot, please do not email, pm or otherwise try to contact me as there will be no response.
Please contact one of the
Global Moderators, a
Moderator or the
Site Administrator if you need assistance. Thank you.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
