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Hosea 6-9
New Living Translation
Hosea 6-9
New Living Translation
A Call to Repentance
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
2 In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”
4 “O Israel[a] and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
6 I want you to show love,[b]
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me[c]
more than I want burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam,[d] you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.
8 “Gilead is a city of sinners,
tracked with footprints of blood.
9 Priests form bands of robbers,
waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
and practice every kind of sin.
10 Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!
11 “O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,
though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.
Israel’s Love for Wickedness
7 “I want to heal Israel, but its[e] sins are too great.
Samaria is filled with liars.
Thieves are on the inside
and bandits on the outside!
2 Its people don’t realize
that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
and I see them all.
3 “The people entertain the king with their wickedness,
and the princes laugh at their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
always aflame with lust.
They are like an oven that is kept hot
while the baker is kneading the dough.
5 On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,
carousing with those who mock them.
6 Their hearts are like an oven
blazing with intrigue.
Their plot smolders[f] through the night,
and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.
7 Burning like an oven,
they consume their leaders.
They kill their kings one after another,
and no one cries to me for help.
8 “The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
9 Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
but they don’t even know it.
Their hair is gray,
but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
10 Their arrogance testifies against them,
yet they don’t return to the Lord their God
or even try to find him.
11 “The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
12 But as they fly about,
I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
I will punish them for all the evil they do.[g]
13 “What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
but they have told lies about me.
14 They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves,[h] begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
and they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and made them strong,
yet now they plot evil against me.
16 They look everywhere except to the Most High.
They are as useless as a crooked bow.
Their leaders will be killed by their enemies
because of their insolence toward me.
Then the people of Egypt
will laugh at them.
Israel Harvests the Whirlwind
8 “Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
2 Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
3 But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
4 The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction.
5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf—
this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapable of innocence?
6 This calf you worship, O Israel,
was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7 “They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel[i] have sold themselves—
sold themselves to many lovers.
10 But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
under the burden of the great king.
11 “Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
12 Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
13 The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses.”
Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment
9 O people of Israel,
do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
There will be no grapes for making new wine.
3 You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
4 There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the Lord.
5 What then will you do on festival days?
How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?
6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis[j] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
thistles will invade your ruined homes.
7 The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
8 The prophet is a watchman over Israel[k] for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
9 The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for their sins.
10 The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped.
11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
or even be conceived.
12 Even if you do have children who grow up,
I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
and leave you alone.
13 I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”
14 O Lord, what should I request for your people?
I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
and breasts that give no milk.
15 The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
because all their leaders are rebels.
16 The people of Israel are struck down.
Their roots are dried up,
and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
I will slaughter their beloved children.”
17 My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations.
Footnotes
- 6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
- 6:6a Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13; 12:7.
- 6:6b Hebrew to know God.
- 6:7 Or But at Adam.
- 7:1 Hebrew Ephraim’s, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; similarly in 7:8, 11.
- 7:6 Hebrew Their baker sleeps.
- 7:12 Hebrew I will punish them because of what was reported against them in the assembly.
- 7:14 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They gather together.
- 8:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 8:11.
- 9:6 Memphis was the capital of northern Egypt.
- 9:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 9:11, 13, 16.
Hosea 6-9
New International Version
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)
2 After two days he will revive us;(E)
on the third day(F) he will restore(G) us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let 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)
5 Therefore 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)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
7 As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As 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)
10 I 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 1 whenever 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)
2 but 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)
4 They are all adulterers,(AI)
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,(AJ)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(AK)
6 Their 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.
7 All 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.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(AP)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’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)
12 When 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.
13 Woe(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)
14 They 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)
15 I trained(BE) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(BF) against me.
16 They 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)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(BP)
4 They 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.
5 Samaria, 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)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(CA)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(CB)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(CC)
like a wild donkey(CD) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(CE)
10 Although 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)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(CI)
13 Though 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)
14 Israel 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.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(CU) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(CV) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(CW)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(CX)
4 They 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)
5 What will you do(DD) on the day of your appointed festivals,(DE)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even 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.
7 The 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)
8 The 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)
9 They 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.
11 Ephraim’s glory(DZ) will fly away like a bird(EA)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(EB)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(EC) them of every one.
Woe(ED) to them
when I turn away from them!(EE)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(EF) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(EG)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(EH)
14 Give 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)
16 Ephraim(EN) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(EO)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(EP) their cherished offspring.”
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
3 John 1-14
New Living Translation
3 John 1-14
New Living Translation
Greetings
1 This letter is from John, the elder.[a]
I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. 3 Some of the traveling teachers[b] recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.
Caring for the Lord’s Workers
5 Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord,[c] and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.[d] 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.
9 I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. 10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.[e]
12 Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.
Conclusion
13 I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. 14 For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.
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3 John 1-14
New International Version
3 John 1-14
New International Version
1 The elder,(A)
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers(B) came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.(C) 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children(D) are walking in the truth.(E)
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,[a](F) even though they are strangers to you.(G) 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way(H) in a manner that honors(I) God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name(J) that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.(K) 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come,(L) I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.(M) He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.(N)
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.(O) Anyone who does what is good is from God.(P) Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.(Q) 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone(R)—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.(S)
13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.(T)
Footnotes
- 3 John 1:5 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family.
Psalm 126
New Living Translation
Psalm 126
New Living Translation
Psalm 126
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,[a]
it was like a dream!
2 We were filled with laughter,
and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
“What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
3 Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!
What joy!
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
as streams renew the desert.
5 Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
6 They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with the harvest.
Footnotes
- 126:1 Hebrew Zion.
Psalm 126
New International Version
Psalm 126
New International Version
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored(A) the fortunes of[a] Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.[b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,(B)
our tongues with songs of joy.(C)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things(D) for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things(E) for us,
and we are filled with joy.(F)
Footnotes
- Psalm 126:1 Or Lord brought back the captives to
- Psalm 126:1 Or those restored to health
- Psalm 126:4 Or Bring back our captives
Proverbs 29:12-14
New Living Translation
Proverbs 29:12-14
New Living Translation
12 If a ruler pays attention to liars,
all his advisers will be wicked.
13 The poor and the oppressor have this in common—
the Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.
14 If a king judges the poor fairly,
his throne will last forever.
Proverbs 29:12-14
New International Version
Proverbs 29:12-14
New International Version
13 The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.(C)
14 If a king judges the poor with fairness,
his throne will be established forever.(D)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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