Hosea 6-9

New International Version

Israel Unrepentant

6 “Come, let us return^(A) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces^(B)
    but he will heal us;^(C)
he has injured us
    but he will bind up our wounds.^(D)
²After two days he will revive us;^(E)
    on the third day^(F) he will restore^(G) us,
    that we may live in his presence.
³Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,^(H)
    like the spring rains that water the earth.^(I)”

⁴“What can I do with you, Ephraim?^(J)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.^(K)
⁵Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth^(L)—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.^[a]^(M)
⁶For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,^(N)
    and acknowledgment^(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.^(P)
⁷As at Adam,^[b] they have broken the covenant;^(Q)
    they were unfaithful^(R) to me there.
⁸Gilead is a city of evildoers,^(S)
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,^(T)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder^(U) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.^(V)
¹⁰I have seen a horrible^(W) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.^(X)

¹¹“Also for you, Judah,
a harvest^(Y) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes^(Z) of my people,

7 ¹whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.^(AA)
They practice deceit,^(AB)
    thieves break into houses,^(AC)
    bandits rob in the streets;^(AD)
²but they do not realize
    that I remember^(AE) all their evil deeds.^(AF)
Their sins engulf them;^(AG)
    they are always before me.

³“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.^(AH)
⁴They are all adulterers,^(AI)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
⁵On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,^(AJ)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.^(AK)
⁶Their hearts are like an oven;^(AL)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,^(AM)
    and none of them calls^(AN) on me.

⁸“Ephraim mixes^(AO) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
⁹Foreigners sap his strength,^(AP)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,^(AQ)
    but despite all this
he does not return^(AR) to the Lord his God
    or search^(AS) for him.

¹¹“Ephraim is like a dove,^(AT)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,^(AU)
    now turning to Assyria.^(AV)
¹²When they go, I will throw my net^(AW) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
¹³Woe^(AX) to them,
    because they have strayed^(AY) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me^(AZ) falsely.^(BA)
¹⁴They do not cry out to me from their hearts^(BB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,^[c] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,^(BC)
    but they turn away from me.^(BD)
¹⁵I trained^(BE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil^(BF) against me.
¹⁶They do not turn to the Most High;^(BG)
    they are like a faulty bow.^(BH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent^(BI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed^(BJ)
    in the land of Egypt.^(BK)

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

8 “Put the trumpet^(BL) to your lips!
    An eagle^(BM) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant^(BN)
    and rebelled against my law.^(BO)
²Israel cries out to me,
    ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
³But Israel has rejected what is good;
    an enemy will pursue him.^(BP)
⁴They set up kings without my consent;
    they choose princes without my approval.^(BQ)
With their silver and gold
    they make idols^(BR) for themselves
    to their own destruction.
⁵Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!^(BS)
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?^(BT)
⁶    They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.^(BU)
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf^(BV) of Samaria.^(BW)

⁷“They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(BX)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(BY)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(BZ)
⁸Israel is swallowed up;^(CA)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(CB)
⁹For they have gone up to Assyria^(CC)
    like a wild donkey^(CD) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(CE)
¹⁰Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(CF)
They will begin to waste away^(CG)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.^(CH)
¹²I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.^(CI)
¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat^(CJ) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.^(CK)
Now he will remember^(CL) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:^(CM)
    They will return to Egypt.^(CN)
¹⁴Israel has forgotten^(CO) their Maker^(CP)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”^(CQ)

Punishment for Israel

9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant^(CR) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful^(CS) to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute^(CT)
    at every threshing floor.
²Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine^(CU) will fail them.
³They will not remain^(CV) in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt^(CW)
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.^(CX)
⁴They will not pour out wine offerings^(CY) to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please^(CZ) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;^(DA)
    all who eat them will be unclean.^(DB)
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.^(DC)

⁵What will you do^(DD) on the day of your appointed festivals,^(DE)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
⁶Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,^(DF)
    and Memphis^(DG) will bury them.^(DH)
Their treasures of silver^(DI) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns^(DJ) will overrun their tents.
⁷The days of punishment^(DK) are coming,
    the days of reckoning^(DL) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins^(DM) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,^(DN)
    the inspired person a maniac.^(DO)
⁸The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,^[d]
yet snares^(DP) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.^(DQ)
⁹They have sunk deep into corruption,^(DR)
    as in the days of Gibeah.^(DS)
God will remember^(DT) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.^(DU)

¹⁰“When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit^(DV) on the fig^(DW) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,^(DX)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol^(DY)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim’s glory^(DZ) will fly away like a bird^(EA)—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(EB)
¹²Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave^(EC) them of every one.
Woe^(ED) to them
    when I turn away from them!^(EE)
¹³I have seen Ephraim,^(EF) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.^(EG)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”^(EH)

¹⁴Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.^(EI)

¹⁵“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,^(EJ)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,^(EK)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;^(EL)
    all their leaders are rebellious.^(EM)
¹⁶Ephraim^(EN) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.^(EO)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay^(EP) their cherished offspring.”

¹⁷My God will reject^(EQ) them
because they have not obeyed^(ER) him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.^(ES)

Footnotes

Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together
Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God

Hebrews 3

New International Version

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,^(A) who share in the heavenly calling,^(B) fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge^(C) as our apostle and high priest.^(D) ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.^(E) ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,^(F) just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.^(G) ⁵“Moses was faithful as a servant^(H) in all God’s house,”^[a]^(I) bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as the Son^(J) over God’s house. And we are his house,^(K) if indeed we hold firmly^(L) to our confidence and the hope^(M) in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:^(N)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸    do not harden your hearts^(O)
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.^(P)
¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,^(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ^(R)”^[b]^(S)

¹²See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.^(T) ¹³But encourage one another daily,^(U) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.^(V) ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold^(W) our original conviction firmly to the very end.^(X) ¹⁵As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”^[c]^(Y)

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?^(Z) ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?^(AA) ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest^(AB) if not to those who disobeyed?^(AC) ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.^(AD)