22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,(A)

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Clean and Unclean Food(A)

14 You are the children(B) of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy(C) to the Lord your God.(D) Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.(E)

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Is this the way you repay(A) the Lord,
    you foolish(B) and unwise people?(C)
Is he not your Father,(D) your Creator,[a]
    who made you and formed you?(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you

16 But you are our Father,(A)
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge(B) us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer(C) from of old is your name.

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[a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.

God’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child,(A) I loved(B) him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.(C)
But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.[a](D)
They sacrificed to the Baals(E)
    and they burned incense to images.(F)
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;(G)
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed(H) them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.(I)
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed(J) them.(K)

“Will they not return to Egypt(L)
    and will not Assyria(M) rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them

“I have installed my king(A)
    on Zion,(B) my holy mountain.(C)

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;(D)
    today I have become your father.(E)

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27 And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,(A)
    the most exalted(B) of the kings(C) of the earth.

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Mourning for the One They Pierced

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a](A) of grace and supplication.(B) They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced,(C) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,(D) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
  2. Zechariah 12:10 Or to

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