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Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When E′phraim spoke, men trembled;
    he was exalted in Israel;
    but he incurred guilt through Ba′al and died.
And now they sin more and more,
    and make for themselves molten images,
idols skilfully made of their silver,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.
Sacrifice to these, they say.[a]
    Men kiss calves!
Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
    or like the dew that goes early away,
like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or like smoke from a window.

I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no saviour.
It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
but when they had fed[b] to the full,
    they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    therefore they forgot me.
So I will be to them like a lion,
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    as a wild beast would rend them.

I will destroy you, O Israel;
    who[c] can help you?
10 Where[d] now is your king, to save you;
    where are all[e] your princes,[f] to defend you[g]
those of whom you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
11 I have given you kings in my anger,
    and I have taken them away in my wrath.

12 The iniquity of E′phraim is bound up,
    his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son;
for now he does not present himself
    at the mouth of the womb.

14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
    Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where[h] are your plagues?
    O Sheol, where[i] is your destruction?
    Compassion is hid from my eyes.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 13:2 Gk: Heb to these they say sacrifices of
  2. Hosea 13:6 Cn: Heb according to their pasture
  3. Hosea 13:9 Gk Syr: Heb for in me
  4. Hosea 13:10 Gk Syr Vg: Heb I will be
  5. Hosea 13:10 Cn: Heb in all
  6. Hosea 13:10 Cn: Heb cities
  7. Hosea 13:10 Cn Compare Gk: Heb and your judges
  8. Hosea 13:14 Gk Syr: Heb I will be
  9. Hosea 13:14 Gk Syr: Heb I will be

Jesus the Way to the Father

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe [a] in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” [b] Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; 14 if you ask[c] anything in my name, I will do it.

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Footnotes

  1. John 14:1 Or you believe
  2. John 14:4 Other ancient authorities read where I am going you know, and the way you know
  3. John 14:14 Other ancient authorities add me

A Plea for Repentance

14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept that which is good
    and we will render
    the fruit[a] of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us,
    we will not ride upon horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
In thee the orphan finds mercy.”

Assurance of Forgiveness

I will heal their faithlessness;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
I will be as the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom as the lily,
    he shall strike root as the poplar;[b]
his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
They shall return and dwell beneath my[c] shadow,
    they shall flourish as a garden;[d]
they shall blossom as the vine,
    their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

O E′phraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.[e]
I am like an evergreen cypress,
    from me comes your fruit.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 14:2 Gk Syr: Heb bulls
  2. Hosea 14:5 Cn: Heb Lebanon
  3. Hosea 14:7 Heb his
  4. Hosea 14:7 Cn: Heb they shall grow grain
  5. Hosea 14:8 Heb him

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence.

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