The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    (A)he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt (B)through Baal and died.
And now they sin more and more,
    and (C)make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
    (D)all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
    “Those who offer human sacrifice (E)kiss calves!”
Therefore they shall be (F)like the morning mist
    or (G)like the dew that goes early away,
(H)like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or (I)like smoke from a window.

But (J)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
(K)you know no God but me,
    and (L)besides me there is no savior.
(M)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
(N)but when they had grazed,[a] they became full,
    (O)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    (P)therefore they forgot me.
So (Q)I am to them like a lion;
    (R)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
I will fall upon them (S)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    (T)as a wild beast would rip them open.

He destroys[b] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against (U)your helper.
10 (V)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom (W)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
11 (X)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and (Y)I took him away in my wrath.

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

14 (AD)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    (AE)I shall redeem them from Death.[c]
(AF)O (AG)Death, where are your plagues?
    (AH)O (AI)Sheol, where is your sting?
    (AJ)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

15 Though (AK)he may flourish among his brothers,
    (AL)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
(AM)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip (AN)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
16 [d] Samaria (AO)shall bear her guilt,
    because (AP)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    (AQ)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their (AR)pregnant women ripped open.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture
  2. Hosea 13:9 Or I will destroy
  3. Hosea 13:14 Or Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?
  4. Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
On the willows[a] there
    we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

(A)How shall we sing the Lord's song
    in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    (B)let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my (C)tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!

Remember, O Lord, against the (D)Edomites
    (E)the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, (F)“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
O daughter of Babylon, (G)doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who (H)repays you
    with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and (I)dashes them against the rock!

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138 (J)I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before (K)the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down (L)toward your (M)holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.[b]
On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.[c]

(N)All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
and they shall sing of (O)the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
(P)For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.

(Q)Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you (R)preserve my life;
you (S)stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your (T)right hand delivers me.
The Lord will (U)fulfill his purpose for me;
    (V)your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake (W)the work of your hands.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 137:2 Or poplars
  2. Psalm 138:2 Or you have exalted your word above all your name
  3. Psalm 138:3 Hebrew you made me bold in my soul with strength

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