Hosea 12:1 - Joel 2:27

English Standard Version

⁷ A merchant, in whose hands are ^(K)false balances,
    he loves ^(L)to oppress.
⁸ Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^(M)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors ^(N)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
^9 (O)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ^(P)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

^10 (Q)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied ^(R)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
^11 (S)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
^(T)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    ^(U)their altars also are like stone heaps
    ^(V)on the furrows of the field.
^12 (W)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(X)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³ By ^(Y)a prophet ^(Z)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
^14 (AA)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(AB)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(AC)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

⁴ But ^(AM)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(AN)you know no God but me,
    and ^(AO)besides me there is no savior.
^5 (AP)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
^6 (AQ)but when they had grazed,^[b] they became full,
    ^(AR)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(AS)therefore they forgot me.
⁷ So ^(AT)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(AU)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸ I will fall upon them ^(AV)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(AW)as a wild beast would rip them open.

⁹ He destroys^[c] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against ^(AX)your helper.
^10 (AY)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^(AZ)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
^11 (BA)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and ^(BB)I took him away in my wrath.

¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is ^(BC)bound up;
    his sin is ^(BD)kept in store.
^13 (BE)The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    ^(BF)at the opening of the womb.

^14 (BG)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(BH)I shall redeem them from Death.^[d]
(BI)O ^(BJ)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(BK)O ^(BL)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(BM)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Though ^(BN)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(BO)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(BP)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(BQ)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
^16 [e] Samaria ^(BR)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(BS)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(BT)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(BU)pregnant women ripped open.

⁴ I ^(CD)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(CE)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
^5 (CF)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(CG)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(CH)of Lebanon;
⁶ his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(CI)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷ They shall return and ^(CJ)dwell beneath my^[g] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O ^(CK)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.^[h]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    ^(CL)from me comes your fruit.

^9 (CM)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(CN)the upright walk in them,
    ^(CO)but transgressors stumble in them.

⁴ What ^(CU)the cutting locust left,
    ^(CV)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    ^(CW)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    ^(CX)the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and ^(CY)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of ^(CZ)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For ^(DA)a nation has come up against my land,
    ^(DB)powerful and beyond number;
^(DC)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my ^(DD)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

⁸ Lament like a virgin^{[i] (DE)}wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
^9 (DF)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
^(DG)The priests mourn,
    ^(DH)the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are destroyed,
    ^(DI)the ground mourns,
because ^(DJ)the grain is destroyed,
    ^(DK)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

^11 (DL)Be ashamed,^[j] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    ^(DM)because the harvest of the field has perished.
¹² The vine dries up;
    ^(DN)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and ^(DO)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

^14 (DV)Consecrate a fast;
    ^(DW)call a solemn assembly.
Gather ^(DX)the elders
    and ^(DY)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

¹⁵ Alas for the day!
^(DZ)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty^[k] it comes.
¹⁶ Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
^(EA)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

^17 (EB)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[l]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because ^(EC)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How ^(ED)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[m]

¹⁹ To you, ^(EE)O Lord, I call.
^(EF)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
^(EG)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the beasts of the field ^(EH)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
^(EI)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

^3 (ER)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(ES)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(ET)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

^4 (EU)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
^5 (EV)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(EW)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(EX)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(EY)all faces grow pale.
⁷ Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸ They do not jostle one another;
    ^(EZ)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
^9 (FA)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(FB)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(FC)they enter through the windows ^(FD)like a thief.

^10 (FE)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(FF)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
^11 (FG)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(FH)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(FI)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(FJ)For the day of the Lord is ^(FK)great and very awesome;
    ^(FL)who can endure it?

^15 (FV)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(FW)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶     gather the people.
^(FX)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(FY)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(FZ)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

^17 (GA)Between the ^(GB)vestibule and the ^(GC)altar
    ^(GD)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[n]
(GE)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

²⁰ “I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[o] into ^(GJ)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[p] into ^(GK)the western sea;
^(GL)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹ “Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(GM)the Lord has done great things!
²² Fear not, ^(GN)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(GO)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(GP)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(GQ)vine give their full yield.

^23 (GR)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(GS)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(GT)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(GU)the early and ^(GV)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵ I will restore^[q] to you the years
    that ^(GW)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(GX)the hopper, ^(GY)the destroyer, and ^(GZ)the cutter,
    ^(HA)my great army, which I sent among you.

^26 (HB)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(HC)shall never again be put to shame.
^27 (HD)You shall know that I am ^(HE)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(HF)I am the Lord your God ^(HG)and there is none else.
And my people ^(HH)shall never again be put to shame.