Hosea 12-14

New International Version

12 ^[a]¹Ephraim^(A) feeds on the wind;^(B)
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.^(C)
He makes a treaty with Assyria^(D)
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.^(E)
²The Lord has a charge^(F) to bring against Judah;^(G)
    he will punish^(H) Jacob^[b] according to his ways
    and repay him according to his deeds.^(I)
³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;^(J)
    as a man he struggled^(K) with God.
⁴He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
    he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel^(L)
    and talked with him there—
⁵the Lord God Almighty,
    the Lord is his name!^(M)
⁶But you must return^(N) to your God;
    maintain love and justice,^(O)
    and wait for your God always.^(P)

⁷The merchant uses dishonest scales^(Q)
    and loves to defraud.
⁸Ephraim boasts,^(R)
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.^(S)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”

⁹“I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;^(T)
I will make you live in tents^(U) again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
¹⁰I spoke to the prophets,
    gave them many visions
    and told parables^(V) through them.”^(W)

¹¹Is Gilead wicked?^(X)
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?^(Y)
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.^(Z)
¹²Jacob fled to the country of Aram^[c];^(AA)
    Israel served to get a wife,
    and to pay for her he tended sheep.^(AB)
¹³The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,^(AC)
    by a prophet he cared for him.^(AD)
¹⁴But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
    his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed^(AE)
    and will repay him for his contempt.^(AF)

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^(AG)
    he was exalted^(AH) in Israel.
    But he became guilty of Baal worship^(AI) and died.
²Now they sin more and more;
    they make^(AJ) idols for themselves from their silver,^(AK)
cleverly fashioned images,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.^(AL)
It is said of these people,
    “They offer human sacrifices!
    They kiss^[d]^(AM) calf-idols!^(AN)”
³Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears,^(AO)
    like chaff^(AP) swirling from a threshing floor,^(AQ)
    like smoke^(AR) escaping through a window.

⁴“But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(AS)
You shall acknowledge^(AT) no God but me,^(AU)
    no Savior^(AV) except me.
⁵I cared for you in the wilderness,^(AW)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(AX)
    then they forgot^(AY) me.^(AZ)
⁷So I will be like a lion^(BA) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(BB)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(BC) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(BD)

⁹“You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(BE) against your helper.^(BF)
¹⁰Where is your king,^(BG) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(BH)
¹¹So in my anger I gave you a king,^(BI)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(BJ)
¹²The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(BK)
¹³Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(BL) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(BM) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(BN)

¹⁴“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(BO)
I will redeem them from death.^(BP)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(BQ)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵    even though he thrives^(BR) among his brothers.
An east wind^(BS) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(BT)
His storehouse will be plundered^(BU)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶The people of Samaria^(BV) must bear their guilt,^(BW)
    because they have rebelled^(BX) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(BY)
    their little ones will be dashed^(BZ) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(CA) ripped open.”^[e]

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 ^[f]Return,^(CB) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins^(CC) have been your downfall!^(CD)
²Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive^(CE) all our sins
and receive us graciously,^(CF)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^[g]^(CG)
³Assyria cannot save us;^(CH)
    we will not mount warhorses.^(CI)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’^(CJ)
    to what our own hands have made,^(CK)
    for in you the fatherless^(CL) find compassion.”

⁴“I will heal^(CM) their waywardness^(CN)
    and love them freely,^(CO)
    for my anger has turned away^(CP) from them.
⁵I will be like the dew^(CQ) to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.^(CR)
Like a cedar of Lebanon^(CS)
    he will send down his roots;^(CT)
⁶    his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,^(CU)
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.^(CV)
⁷People will dwell again in his shade;^(CW)
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom^(CX) like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine^(CY) of Lebanon.^(CZ)
⁸Ephraim, what more have I^[h] to do with idols?^(DA)
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;^(DB)
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

⁹Who is wise?^(DC) Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.^(DD)
The ways of the Lord are right;^(DE)
    the righteous walk^(DF) in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

Footnotes

Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.
Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
Hosea 13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.
Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
Hosea 14:8 Or Hebrew; Septuagint What more has Ephraim

Revelation 19

New International Version

Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon’s Fall

19 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude^(A) in heaven shouting:

“Hallelujah!^(B)
Salvation^(C) and glory and power^(D) belong to our God,
² for true and just are his judgments.^(E)
He has condemned the great prostitute^(F)
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”^(G)

³And again they shouted:

“Hallelujah!^(H)
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”^(I)

⁴The twenty-four elders^(J) and the four living creatures^(K) fell down^(L) and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:

“Amen, Hallelujah!”^(M)

⁵Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
all you his servants,^(N)
you who fear him,
both great and small!”^(O)

⁶Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude,^(P) like the roar of rushing waters^(Q) and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!^(R)
    For our Lord God Almighty^(S) reigns.^(T)
⁷Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him glory!^(U)
For the wedding of the Lamb^(V) has come,
    and his bride^(W) has made herself ready.
⁸Fine linen,^(X) bright and clean,
    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts^(Y) of God’s holy people.)

⁹Then the angel said to me,^(Z) “Write this:^(AA) Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”^(AB) And he added, “These are the true words of God.”^(AC)

¹⁰At this I fell at his feet to worship him.^(AD) But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!^(AE) For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”^(AF)

The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast

¹¹I saw heaven standing open^(AG) and there before me was a white horse, whose rider^(AH) is called Faithful and True.^(AI) With justice he judges and wages war.^(AJ) ¹²His eyes are like blazing fire,^(AK) and on his head are many crowns.^(AL) He has a name written on him^(AM) that no one knows but he himself.^(AN) ¹³He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood,^(AO) and his name is the Word of God.^(AP) ¹⁴The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen,^(AQ) white^(AR) and clean. ¹⁵Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword^(AS) with which to strike down^(AT) the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”^[a]^(AU) He treads the winepress^(AV) of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:^(AW)

king of kings and lord of lords.^(AX)

¹⁷And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds^(AY) flying in midair,^(AZ) “Come,^(BA) gather together for the great supper of God,^(BB) ¹⁸so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people,^(BC) free and slave,^(BD) great and small.”^(BE)

¹⁹Then I saw the beast^(BF) and the kings of the earth^(BG) and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse^(BH) and his army. ²⁰But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet^(BI) who had performed the signs^(BJ) on its behalf.^(BK) With these signs he had deluded^(BL) those who had received the mark of the beast^(BM) and worshiped its image.^(BN) The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake^(BO) of burning sulfur.^(BP) ²¹The rest were killed with the sword^(BQ) coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse,^(BR) and all the birds^(BS) gorged themselves on their flesh.