Israel Unrepentant

“Come, let us return(A) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(B)
    but he will heal us;(C)
he has injured us
    but he will bind up our wounds.(D)
After two days he will revive us;(E)
    on the third day(F) he will restore(G) us,
    that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
    let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
    he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(H)
    like the spring rains that water the earth.(I)

“What can I do with you, Ephraim?(J)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.(K)
Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth(L)
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.[a](M)
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
    and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
    they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
    stained with footprints of blood.
As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(T)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder(U) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.(V)
10 I have seen a horrible(W) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.(X)

11 “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest(Y) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(Z) of my people,

whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(AA)
They practice deceit,(AB)
    thieves break into houses,(AC)
    bandits rob in the streets;(AD)
but they do not realize
    that I remember(AE) all their evil deeds.(AF)
Their sins engulf them;(AG)
    they are always before me.

“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.(AH)
They are all adulterers,(AI)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,(AJ)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.(AK)
Their hearts are like an oven;(AL)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(AM)
    and none of them calls(AN) on me.

“Ephraim mixes(AO) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
Foreigners sap his strength,(AP)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(AQ)
    but despite all this
he does not return(AR) to the Lord his God
    or search(AS) for him.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(AT)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(AU)
    now turning to Assyria.(AV)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(AW) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe(AX) to them,
    because they have strayed(AY) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(AZ) falsely.(BA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(BB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[c] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(BC)
    but they turn away from me.(BD)
15 I trained(BE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(BF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(BG)
    they are like a faulty bow.(BH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(BI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(BJ)
    in the land of Egypt.(BK)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
  2. Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
  3. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together

Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.

10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

The Two Witnesses

11 I was given a reed like a measuring rod(A) and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court;(B) do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.(C) They will trample on the holy city(D) for 42 months.(E) And I will appoint my two witnesses,(F) and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,(G) clothed in sackcloth.”(H) They are “the two olive trees”(I) and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[a](J) If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies.(K) This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.(L) They have power to shut up the heavens(M) so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying;(N) and they have power to turn the waters into blood(O) and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast(P) that comes up from the Abyss(Q) will attack them,(R) and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city(S)—which is figuratively called Sodom(T) and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified.(U) For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation(V) will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.(W) 10 The inhabitants of the earth(X) will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts,(Y) because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days(Z) the breath[b] of life from God entered them,(AA) and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”(AB) And they went up to heaven in a cloud,(AC) while their enemies looked on.

13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake(AD) and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory(AE) to the God of heaven.(AF)

14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.(AG)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 11:4 See Zech. 4:3,11,14.
  2. Revelation 11:11 Or Spirit (see Ezek. 37:5,14)

11 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Read full chapter