Hosea 9-11

New International Version

Punishment for Israel

9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant^(A) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful^(B) to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute^(C)
    at every threshing floor.
²Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine^(D) will fail them.
³They will not remain^(E) in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt^(F)
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.^(G)
⁴They will not pour out wine offerings^(H) to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please^(I) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;^(J)
    all who eat them will be unclean.^(K)
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.^(L)

⁵What will you do^(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,^(N)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
⁶Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,^(O)
    and Memphis^(P) will bury them.^(Q)
Their treasures of silver^(R) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns^(S) will overrun their tents.
⁷The days of punishment^(T) are coming,
    the days of reckoning^(U) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins^(V) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,^(W)
    the inspired person a maniac.^(X)
⁸The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,^[a]
yet snares^(Y) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.^(Z)
⁹They have sunk deep into corruption,^(AA)
    as in the days of Gibeah.^(AB)
God will remember^(AC) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.^(AD)

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^(AE) on the fig^(AF) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,^(AG)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol^(AH)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim’s glory^(AI) will fly away like a bird^(AJ)—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(AK)
¹²Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave^(AL) them of every one.
Woe^(AM) to them
    when I turn away from them!^(AN)
¹³I have seen Ephraim,^(AO) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.^(AP)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”^(AQ)

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

¹⁵“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,^(AS)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,^(AT)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;^(AU)
    all their leaders are rebellious.^(AV)
¹⁶Ephraim^(AW) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.^(AX)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay^(AY) their cherished offspring.”

¹⁷My God will reject^(AZ) them
because they have not obeyed^(BA) him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.^(BB)

10 Israel was a spreading vine;^(BC)
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;^(BD)
as his land prospered,^(BE)
    he adorned his sacred stones.^(BF)
²Their heart is deceitful,^(BG)
    and now they must bear their guilt.^(BH)
The Lord will demolish their altars^(BI)
    and destroy their sacred stones.^(BJ)

³Then they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
    what could he do for us?”
⁴They make many promises,
    take false oaths^(BK)
    and make agreements;^(BL)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds^(BM) in a plowed field.
⁵The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol^(BN) of Beth Aven.^[b]^(BO)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,^(BP)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.^(BQ)
⁶It will be carried to Assyria^(BR)
    as tribute^(BS) for the great king.^(BT)
Ephraim will be disgraced;^(BU)
    Israel will be ashamed^(BV) of its foreign alliances.
⁷Samaria’s king will be destroyed,^(BW)
    swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸The high places^(BX) of wickedness^[c]^(BY) will be destroyed—
    it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns^(BZ) and thistles will grow up
    and cover their altars.^(CA)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”^(CB)
    and to the hills, “Fall on us!”^(CC)

⁹“Since the days of Gibeah,^(CD) you have sinned,^(CE) Israel,
    and there you have remained.^[d]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰When I please, I will punish^(CF) them;
    nations will be gathered against them
    to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹Ephraim is a trained heifer
    that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke^(CG)
    on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
    Judah must plow,
    and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹²Sow^(CH) righteousness^(CI) for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;^(CJ)
    for it is time to seek^(CK) the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness^(CL) on you.
¹³But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,^(CM)
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.^(CN)
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,^(CO)
¹⁴the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated^(CP)—
as Shalman^(CQ) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.^(CR)
¹⁵So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.^(CS)

God’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child,^(CT) I loved^(CU) him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.^(CV)
²But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.^[e]^(CW)
They sacrificed to the Baals^(CX)
    and they burned incense to images.^(CY)
³It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;^(CZ)
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed^(DA) them.
⁴I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.^(DB)
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed^(DC) them.^(DD)

⁵“Will they not return to Egypt^(DE)
    and will not Assyria^(DF) rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?^(DG)
⁶A sword^(DH) will flash in their cities;
    it will devour^(DI) their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.
⁷My people are determined to turn^(DJ) from me.^(DK)
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.

⁸“How can I give you up,^(DL) Ephraim?^(DM)
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?^(DN)
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion^(DO) is aroused.^(DP)
⁹I will not carry out my fierce anger,^(DQ)
    nor will I devastate^(DR) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man^(DS)—
    the Holy One^(DT) among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
¹⁰They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar^(DU) like a lion.^(DV)
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling^(DW) from the west.^(DX)
¹¹They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria,^(DY) fluttering like doves.^(DZ)
I will settle them in their homes,”^(EA)
    declares the Lord.

Israel’s Sin

¹²Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,^(EB)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful^(EC) Holy One.^[f]^(ED)

Footnotes

Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken
Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.

Romans 15:14-33

New International Version

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,^(A) filled with knowledge^(B) and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me^(C) ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.^(D) He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,^(E) so that the Gentiles might become an offering^(F) acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus^(G) in my service to God.^(H) ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles^(I) to obey God^(J) by what I have said and done— ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders,^(K) through the power of the Spirit of God.^(L) So from Jerusalem^(M) all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.^(N) ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel^(O) where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.^(P) ²¹Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”^[a]^(Q)

²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.^(R)

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²³But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you,^(S) ²⁴I plan to do so when I go to Spain.^(T) I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist^(U) me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem^(V) in the service^(W) of the Lord’s people^(X) there. ²⁶For Macedonia^(Y) and Achaia^(Z) were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.^(AA) ²⁷They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.^(AB) ²⁸So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain^(AC) and visit you on the way. ²⁹I know that when I come to you,^(AD) I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit,^(AE) to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.^(AF) ³¹Pray that I may be kept safe^(AG) from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution^(AH) I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people^(AI) there, ³²so that I may come to you^(AJ) with joy, by God’s will,^(AK) and in your company be refreshed.^(AL) ³³The God of peace^(AM) be with you all. Amen.