Hosea 9-11

New King James Version

Judgment of Israel’s Sin

9 Do^(A) not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,
For you have played the harlot against your God.
You have made love for ^(B)hire on every threshing floor.
²The threshing floor and the winepress
Shall not feed them,
And the new wine shall fail in her.

³They shall not dwell in ^(C)the Lord’s land,
^(D)But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
And ^(E)shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
⁴They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
Nor ^(F)shall their ^(G)sacrifices be pleasing to Him.
It shall be like bread of mourners to them;
All who eat it shall be defiled.
For their bread shall be for their own life;
It shall not come into the house of the Lord.

⁵What will you do in the appointed day,
And in the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt shall gather them up;
Memphis shall bury them.
^(H)Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;
Thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷The ^(I)days of punishment have come;
The days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a ^(J)fool,
^(K)The spiritual man is insane,
Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
⁸The ^(L)watchman of Ephraim is with my God;
But the prophet is a ^[a]fowler’s snare in all his ways—
Enmity in the house of his God.
⁹^(M)They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of ^(N)Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰“I found Israel
Like grapes in the ^(O)wilderness;
I saw your fathers
As the ^(P)firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.
But they went to ^(Q)Baal Peor,
And ^[b]separated themselves to that shame;
^(R)They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
¹¹As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
¹²Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them to the last man.
Yes, ^(S)woe to them when I depart from them!
¹³Just ^(T)as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,
So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”

¹⁴Give them, O Lord—
What will You give?
Give them ^(U)a miscarrying womb
And dry breasts!

¹⁵“All their wickedness is in ^(V)Gilgal,
For there I hated them.
Because of the evil of their deeds
I will drive them from My house;
I will love them no more.
^(W)All their princes are rebellious.
¹⁶Ephraim is ^(X)stricken,
Their root is dried up;
They shall bear no fruit.
Yes, were they to bear children,
I would kill the darlings of their womb.”

¹⁷My God will ^(Y)cast them away,
Because they did not obey Him;
And they shall be ^(Z)wanderers among the nations.

Israel’s Sin and Captivity

10 Israel ^(AA)empties his vine;
He brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit
^(AB)He has increased the altars;
According to the bounty of his land
They have embellished his sacred pillars.
²Their heart is ^(AC)divided;^[c]
Now they are held guilty.
He will break down their altars;
He will ruin their sacred pillars.

³For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
⁴They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up ^(AD)like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

⁵The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the ^(AE)calf^[d] of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And ^[e]its priests shriek for it—
Because its ^(AF)glory has departed from it.
⁶The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King ^(AG)Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
⁸Also the ^(AH)high places of ^[f]Aven, ^(AI)the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
^(AJ)They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of ^(AK)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The ^(AL)battle in Gibeah against the children of ^[g]iniquity
Did not ^[h]overtake them.
¹⁰When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
^(AM)Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them ^[i]for their two transgressions.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(AN)a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim ^[j]pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
^(AO)Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He ^(AP)comes and rains righteousness on you.

¹³^(AQ)You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
¹⁴Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
¹⁵Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.

God’s Continuing Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a ^[k]child, I loved him,
And out of Egypt ^(AR)I called My ^(AS)son.
²^[l]As they called them,
So they ^(AT)went ^[m]from them;
They sacrificed to the Baals,
And burned incense to carved images.

³“I^(AU) taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by ^[n]their arms;
But they did not know that ^(AV)I healed them.
⁴I drew them with ^[o]gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And ^(AW)I was to them as those who take the yoke from their ^[p]neck.
^(AX)I stooped and fed them.

⁵“He shall not return to the land of Egypt;
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.
⁶And the sword shall slash in his cities,
Devour his districts,
And consume them,
Because of their own counsels.
⁷My people are bent on ^(AY)backsliding from Me.
Though ^[q]they call ^[r]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

⁸“How^(AZ) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like ^(BA)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart ^[s]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
⁹I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
^(BB)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not ^[t]come with terror.

¹⁰“They shall walk after the Lord.
^(BC)He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
¹¹They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
^(BD)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
^(BE)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.

God’s Charge Against Ephraim

¹²“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the ^[u]Holy One who is faithful.

Footnotes

Hosea 9:8 One who catches birds in a trap or snare
Hosea 9:10 Or dedicated
Hosea 10:2 Divided in loyalty
Hosea 10:5 Lit. calves, images
Hosea 10:5 idolatrous priests
Hosea 10:8 Lit. Idolatry or Wickedness
Hosea 10:9 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Vg.; MT unruliness
Hosea 10:9 Or overcome
Hosea 10:10 Or in their two habitations
Hosea 10:11 Lit. to ride
Hosea 11:1 Or youth
Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX Just as I called them; Tg. interprets as I sent prophets to a thousand of them.
Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX from My face
Hosea 11:3 Some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. My arms
Hosea 11:4 Lit. cords of a man
Hosea 11:4 Lit. jaws
Hosea 11:7 The prophets
Hosea 11:7 Or upward
Hosea 11:8 Lit. turns over
Hosea 11:9 Or enter a city
Hosea 11:12 Or holy ones

Revelation 3

New King James Version

The Dead Church

3 “And to the ^[a]angel of the church in Sardis write,

‘These things says He who ^(A)has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ²Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before ^[b]God. ³^(B)Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and ^(C)repent. ^(D)Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you ^(E)as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. ⁴^[c]You have ^(F)a few names ^[d]even in Sardis who have not ^(G)defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me ^(H)in white, for they are worthy. ⁵He who overcomes ^(I)shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not ^(J)blot out his name from the ^(K)Book of Life; but ^(L)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

⁶^(M)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

The Faithful Church

⁷“And to the ^[e]angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says ^(N)He who is holy, ^(O)He who is true, ^(P)“He who has the key of David, ^(Q)He who opens and no one shuts, and ^(R)shuts and no one opens”: ⁸^(S)“I know your works. See, I have set before you ^(T)an open door, ^[f]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹Indeed I will make ^(U)those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed ^(V)I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰Because you have kept ^[g]My command to persevere, ^(W)I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon ^(X)the whole world, to test those who dwell ^(Y)on the earth. ¹¹^[h]Behold, ^(Z)I am coming quickly! ^(AA)Hold fast what you have, that no one may take ^(AB)your crown. ¹²He who overcomes, I will make him ^(AC)a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall ^(AD)go out no more. ^(AE)I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the ^(AF)New Jerusalem, which ^(AG)comes down out of heaven from My God. ^(AH)And I will write on him My new name.

¹³^(AI)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

The Lukewarm Church

¹⁴“And to the ^[i]angel of the church ^[j]of the Laodiceans write,

^(AJ)‘These things says the Amen, ^(AK)the Faithful and True Witness, ^(AL)the Beginning of the creation of God: ¹⁵^(AM)“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither ^[k]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷Because you say, ^(AN)‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸I counsel you ^(AO)to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and ^(AP)white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ¹⁹^(AQ)As many as I love, I rebuke and ^(AR)chasten.^[l] Therefore be ^[m]zealous and repent. ²⁰Behold, ^(AS)I stand at the door and knock. ^(AT)If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(AU)I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹To him who overcomes ^(AV)I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.