Add parallel Print Page Options

I know what you are like, O Ephraim.
    You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel.
You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband;
    you are utterly defiled.

Read full chapter

“From among all the families on the earth,
    I have been intimate with you alone.
That is why I must punish you
    for all your sins.”

Read full chapter

15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!

Read full chapter

13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Read full chapter

12 For I know the vast number of your sins
    and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Read full chapter

The Lord’s Anger against Israel

13 When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
    the people shook with fear,
    for that tribe was important in Israel.
But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal
    and thus sealed their destruction.

Read full chapter

12 [a]The people of Israel[b] feed on the wind;
    they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
    they are making an alliance with Assyria
    while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 12:1a Verses 12:1-14 are numbered 12:2-15 in Hebrew text.
  2. 12:1b Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 12:8, 14.

11 “Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
    but these very altars became places for sinning!

Read full chapter

“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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.

13 “When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were,
    Israel turned to Assyria—
to the great king there—
    but he could neither help nor cure them.

Read full chapter

11 The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment
    because they are determined to worship idols.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:11 Or determined to follow human commands. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

One thing is certain, Israel[a]:
    On your day of punishment,
    you will become a heap of rubble.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 5:11, 12, 13, 14.

17 Leave Israel[a] alone,
    because she is married to idolatry.
18 When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
    off they go to find some prostitutes.
    They love shame more than honor.[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 4:17 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 4:18 As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

“Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers. They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses. And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols[a] and defiling herself. For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute.

“And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much. 10 They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.

11 “Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution. 12 She fawned over all the Assyrian officers—those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses—all of them attractive young men. 13 I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.

14 “Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall—pictures of Babylonian[b] military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms. 15 Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.[c] 16 When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her. 17 So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.

18 “In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts. 19 Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse. 21 And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 23:7 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; also in 23:30, 37, 39, 49.
  2. 23:14 Or Chaldean.
  3. 23:15 Or Chaldea; also in 23:16.

17 “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

Read full chapter

for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
    and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
    it will be crushed and completely destroyed.
Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
    and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
    I cannot make you stand firm.”

Read full chapter

Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,

Read full chapter

14 “In addition, the Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This will happen today, even now! 15 Then the Lord will shake Israel like a reed whipped about in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave their ancestors and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,[a] for they have angered the Lord with the Asherah poles they have set up for worship. 16 He will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and made Israel sin along with him.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 14:15 Hebrew the river.

26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David. 27 When these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead.”

28 So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people,[a] “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”

29 He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom. 30 But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols, traveling as far north as Dan to worship the one there.

31 Jeroboam also erected buildings at the pagan shrines and ordained priests from the common people—those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,[b] in imitation of the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made, and he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made. 33 So on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 12:28 Hebrew to them.
  2. 12:32 This day of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late October or early November, exactly one month after the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah (see Lev 23:34).

17 Joseph has the majesty of a young bull;
    he has the horns of a wild ox.
He will gore distant nations,
    even to the ends of the earth.
This is my blessing for the multitudes of Ephraim
    and the thousands of Manasseh.”

Read full chapter

19 But his father refused. “I know, my son; I know,” he replied. “Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends