12 It has frustrated all efforts;
    its heavy deposit has not been removed,
    not even by fire.

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Friend deceives friend,(A)
    and no one speaks the truth.(B)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(C)
    they weary themselves with sinning.

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13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,(A)
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?(B)

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13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(A) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(B) 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster(C) on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does;(D) yet we have not obeyed him.(E)

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58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall(A) will be leveled
    and her high gates(B) set on fire;
the peoples(C) exhaust(D) themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(E)

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Lord, do not your eyes(A) look for truth?
    You struck(B) them, but they felt no pain;
    you crushed them, but they refused correction.(C)
They made their faces harder than stone(D)
    and refused to repent.(E)

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13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken(A) me,
    the spring of living water,(B)
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

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18 “Of what value(A) is an idol(B) carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image(C) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.(D)
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’(E)
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;(F)
    there is no breath in it.”(G)

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13 “‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed(A) from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.(B)

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“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Woe(A) to the city of bloodshed,(B)
    to the pot now encrusted,
    whose deposit will not go away!
Take the meat out piece by piece
    in whatever order(C) it comes.(D)

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16 “We will not listen(A) to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!(B) 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would:(C) We will burn incense(D) to the Queen of Heaven(E) and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials(F) did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.(G) At that time we had plenty of food(H) and were well off and suffered no harm.(I)

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14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed(A) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(B)
    they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless,(C) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

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You went to Molek[a](A) with olive oil
    and increased your perfumes.(B)
You sent your ambassadors[b](C) far away;
    you descended to the very realm of the dead!(D)
10 You wearied(E) yourself by such going about,
    but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’(F)
You found renewal of your strength,(G)
    and so you did not faint.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 57:9 Or to the king
  2. Isaiah 57:9 Or idols

13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(A)
    Let your astrologers(B) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save(C) you from what is coming upon you.

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Why should you be beaten(A) anymore?
    Why do you persist(B) in rebellion?(C)
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart(D) afflicted.(E)

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21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(A) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(B) because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(C) And never again will I destroy(D) all living creatures,(E) as I have done.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,(A) and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.(B) The Lord regretted(C) that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth(D) the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.(E)

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12 [a]Ephraim(A) feeds on the wind;(B)
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.(C)
He makes a treaty with Assyria(D)
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.

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