Hosea 1-3
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, (A)in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of (B)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Hosea's Wife and Children
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, (C)“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have (D)children of whoredom, for (E)the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while (F)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and (G)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day (H)I will break the bow of Israel (I)in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, (J)“Call her name No Mercy,[a] for (K)I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But (L)I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I (M)will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, (N)“Call his name Not My People,[b] for (O)you are not my people, and I am not your God.”[c]
10 [d] Yet (P)the number of the children of Israel shall be (Q)like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. (R)And (S)in the place where it was said to them, (T)“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, (U)“Children[e] of (V)the living God.” 11 And (W)the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and (X)they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished
2 [f] Say to your brothers, (Y)“You are my people,”[g] and to your sisters, (Z)“You have received mercy.”[h]
2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
for (AA)she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband—
that she put away (AB)her whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;
3 lest (AC)I strip her naked
and make her as (AD)in the day she was born,
and (AE)make her like a wilderness,
and make her like a parched land,
and kill her with thirst.
4 (AF)Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
(AG)because they are children of whoredom.
5 For (AH)their mother has played the whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For (AI)she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who (AJ)give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore (AK)I will hedge up her[i] way with thorns,
and (AL)I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
7 She shall pursue her lovers
but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
but shall not find them.
(AM)Then she shall say,
‘I will go and return to (AN)my first husband,
(AO)for it was better for me then than now.’
8 And (AP)she did not know
that it was (AQ)I who gave her
(AR)the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on (AS)her silver and gold,
(AT)which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore (AU)I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season,
and (AV)I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now (AW)I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 (AX)And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her feasts, her (AY)new moons, her (AZ)Sabbaths,
and all her (BA)appointed feasts.
12 And (BB)I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
(BC)of which she said,
‘These are (BD)my wages,
which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
(BE)and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13 And (BF)I will punish her for (BG)the feast days of the Baals
when she burned offerings to them
and (BH)adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, declares the Lord.
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and (BI)bring her into the wilderness,
and (BJ)speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor[j] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer (BK)as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And (BL)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For (BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And (BN)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And (BO)I will abolish[k] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in (BP)safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me (BQ)forever. (BR)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 (BS)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And (BT)you shall know the Lord.
21 “And (BU)in that day (BV)I will answer, declares the Lord,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer (BW)Jezreel,[l]
23 and (BX)I will sow her for myself in the land.
And (BY)I (BZ)will have mercy on No Mercy,[m]
and (CA)I will say to Not My People,[n] (CB)‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
Hosea Redeems His Wife
3 And the Lord said to me, (CC)“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a (CD)homer and a lethech[o] of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must (CE)dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel (CF)shall dwell many days (CG)without king or prince, (CH)without sacrifice or (CI)pillar, without (CJ)ephod or (CK)household gods. 5 Afterward (CL)the children of Israel shall return and (CM)seek the Lord their God, and (CN)David their king, (CO)and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the (CP)latter days.
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
- Hosea 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
- Hosea 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours
- Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- Hosea 1:10 Or Sons
- Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew
- Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people
- Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy
- Hosea 2:6 Hebrew your
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26
- Hosea 2:18 Hebrew break
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi
- Hosea 3:2 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; a lethech was about 3 bushels or 110 liters
James 5
English Standard Version
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, (A)you rich, weep and howl for the (B)miseries that are coming upon you. 2 (C)Your riches have rotted and (D)your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. (E)You have laid up treasure (F)in the last days. 4 Behold, (G)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and (H)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of (I)the Lord of hosts. 5 (J)You have lived on the earth in luxury and (K)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in (L)a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and (M)murdered (N)the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives (O)the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. (P)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord (Q)is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, (R)so that you may not be judged; behold, (S)the Judge is standing (T)at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take (U)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of (V)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen (W)the purpose of the Lord, how (X)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, (Y)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him (Z)sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (AA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And (AB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, (AC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, (AD)that you may be healed. (AE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.[b] 17 Elijah was a man (AF)with a nature like ours, and (AG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for (AH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 (AI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, (AJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone (AK)brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering (AL)will save his soul from death and (AM)will cover a multitude of sins.
Psalm 133-134
English Standard Version
When Brothers Dwell in Unity
A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when (B)brothers dwell in unity![a]
2 It is like the precious (C)oil on (D)the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on (E)the collar of his robes!
3 It is like (F)the dew of (G)Hermon,
which falls on (H)the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord (I)has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Come, Bless the Lord
A Song of (J)Ascents.
134 Come, bless the Lord, all you (K)servants of the Lord,
who (L)stand (M)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (N)Lift up your hands to (O)the holy place
and bless the Lord!
Footnotes
- Psalm 133:1 Or dwell together
Proverbs 29:7-8
English Standard Version
7 A righteous man (A)knows the rights of the poor;
a wicked man does not (B)understand such knowledge.
8 (C)Scoffers set a city aflame,
but the wise turn away wrath.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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