Hosea 9
Revised Standard Version
Punishment for Israel’s Sin
9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not[a] like the peoples;
for you have played the harlot, forsaking your God.
You have loved a harlot’s hire
upon all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and winevat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in the land of the Lord;
but E′phraim shall return to Egypt,
and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They shall not pour libations of wine to the Lord;
and they shall not please him with their sacrifices.
Their bread[b] shall be like mourners’ bread;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going to Assyria;[c]
Egypt shall gather them,
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come,
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool,
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of E′phraim,
the people of my God,
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gib′e-ah:
he will remember their iniquity,
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree,
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Ba′al-pe′or,
and consecrated themselves to Ba′al,[d]
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 E′phraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
Woe to them
when I depart from them!
13 E′phraim’s sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey;[e]
E′phraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what wilt thou give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their princes are rebels.
16 E′phraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they bring forth,
I will slay their beloved children.
17 My God will cast them off,
because they have not hearkened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:1 Gk: Heb to exultation
- Hosea 9:4 Cn: Heb to them
- Hosea 9:6 Cn: Heb from destruction
- Hosea 9:10 Heb shame
- Hosea 9:13 Cn Compare Gk: Heb uncertain
Matthew 12:1-21
Revised Standard Version
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”
The Man with a Withered Hand
9 And he went on from there, and entered their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, whole like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how to destroy him.
God’s Chosen Servant
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will any one hear his voice in the streets;
20 he will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smoldering wick,
till he brings justice to victory;
21 and in his name will the Gentiles hope.”
Hosea 10
Revised Standard Version
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased
the more altars he built;
as his country improved
he improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[a] will break down their altars,
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say:
“We have no king,
for we fear not the Lord,
and a king, what could he do for us?”
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samar′ia tremble
for the calf[b] of Beth-a′ven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests shall wail[c] over it,
over its glory which has departed from it.
6 Yea, the thing itself shall be carried to Assyria,
as tribute to the great king.[d]
E′phraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[e]
7 Samar′ia’s king shall perish,
like a chip on the face of the waters.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars;
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us,
and to the hills, Fall upon us.
9 From the days of Gib′e-ah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gib′e-ah?
10 I will come[f] against the wayward people to chastise them;
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are chastised[g] for their double iniquity.
11 E′phraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put E′phraim to the yoke,
Judah must plow,
Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit[h] of steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain salvation upon you.
13 You have plowed iniquity,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your chariots[i]
and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-ar′bel on the day of battle;
mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O house of Israel,[j]
because of your great wickedness.
In the storm[k] the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
Footnotes
- Hosea 10:2 Heb he
- Hosea 10:5 Gk Syr: Heb calves
- Hosea 10:5 Cn: Heb exult
- Hosea 10:6 Cn: Heb a king that will contend
- Hosea 10:6 Cn: Heb counsel
- Hosea 10:10 Cn Compare Gk: Heb in my desire
- Hosea 10:10 Gk: Heb bound
- Hosea 10:12 Gk: Heb according to
- Hosea 10:13 Gk: Heb way
- Hosea 10:15 Gk: Heb O Bethel
- Hosea 10:15 Cn: Heb dawn
Galatians 6
Revised Standard Version
Bear One Another’s Burdens
6 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each man will have to bear his own load.
6 Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.
7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Final Admonitions and Benediction
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.
17 Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
Footnotes
- Galatians 6:14 Or through whom
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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