Hosea 13-14

New International Version

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^(A)
    he was exalted^(B) in Israel.
    But he became guilty of Baal worship^(C) and died.
²Now they sin more and more;
    they make^(D) idols for themselves from their silver,^(E)
cleverly fashioned images,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.^(F)
It is said of these people,
    “They offer human sacrifices!
    They kiss^[a]^(G) calf-idols!^(H)”
³Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears,^(I)
    like chaff^(J) swirling from a threshing floor,^(K)
    like smoke^(L) escaping through a window.

⁴“But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(M)
You shall acknowledge^(N) no God but me,^(O)
    no Savior^(P) except me.
⁵I cared for you in the wilderness,^(Q)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(R)
    then they forgot^(S) me.^(T)
⁷So I will be like a lion^(U) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(V)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(W) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(X)

⁹“You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(Y) against your helper.^(Z)
¹⁰Where is your king,^(AA) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(AB)
¹¹So in my anger I gave you a king,^(AC)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(AD)
¹²The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(AE)
¹³Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(AF) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(AG) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(AH)

¹⁴“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(AI)
I will redeem them from death.^(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(AK)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵    even though he thrives^(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind^(AM) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered^(AO)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶The people of Samaria^(AP) must bear their guilt,^(AQ)
    because they have rebelled^(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(AS)
    their little ones will be dashed^(AT) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(AU) ripped open.”^[b]

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 ^[c]Return,^(AV) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins^(AW) have been your downfall!^(AX)
²Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive^(AY) all our sins
and receive us graciously,^(AZ)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^[d]^(BA)
³Assyria cannot save us;^(BB)
    we will not mount warhorses.^(BC)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’^(BD)
    to what our own hands have made,^(BE)
    for in you the fatherless^(BF) find compassion.”

⁴“I will heal^(BG) their waywardness^(BH)
    and love them freely,^(BI)
    for my anger has turned away^(BJ) from them.
⁵I will be like the dew^(BK) to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.^(BL)
Like a cedar of Lebanon^(BM)
    he will send down his roots;^(BN)
⁶    his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,^(BO)
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.^(BP)
⁷People will dwell again in his shade;^(BQ)
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom^(BR) like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine^(BS) of Lebanon.^(BT)
⁸Ephraim, what more have I^[e] to do with idols?^(BU)
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;^(BV)
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

⁹Who is wise?^(BW) Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.^(BX)
The ways of the Lord are right;^(BY)
    the righteous walk^(BZ) in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

Footnotes

Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
Hosea 13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.
Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
Hosea 14:8 Or Hebrew; Septuagint What more has Ephraim

Revelation 1

New International Version

Prologue

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave^(A) him to show his servants what must soon take place.^(B) He made it known by sending his angel^(C) to his servant John,^(D) ²who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God^(E) and the testimony of Jesus Christ.^(F) ³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,^(G) because the time is near.^(H)

Greetings and Doxology

⁴John,

To the seven churches^(I) in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you^(J) from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,^(K) and from the seven spirits^[a]^(L) before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,^(M) the firstborn from the dead,^(N) and the ruler of the kings of the earth.^(O)

To him who loves us^(P) and has freed us from our sins by his blood,^(Q) ⁶and has made us to be a kingdom and priests^(R) to serve his God and Father^(S)—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.^(T)

⁷“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”^[b]^(U)
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;^(V)
and all peoples on earth “will mourn^(W) because of him.”^[c]
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”^(X) says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,^(Y) the Almighty.”^(Z)

John’s Vision of Christ

⁹I, John,^(AA) your brother and companion in the suffering^(AB) and kingdom^(AC) and patient endurance^(AD) that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God^(AE) and the testimony of Jesus.^(AF) ¹⁰On the Lord’s Day^(AG) I was in the Spirit,^(AH) and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,^(AI) ¹¹which said: “Write on a scroll what you see^(AJ) and send it to the seven churches:^(AK) to Ephesus,^(AL) Smyrna,^(AM) Pergamum,^(AN) Thyatira,^(AO) Sardis,^(AP) Philadelphia^(AQ) and Laodicea.”^(AR)

¹²I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,^(AS) ¹³and among the lampstands^(AT) was someone like a son of man,^[d]^(AU) dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet^(AV) and with a golden sash around his chest.^(AW) ¹⁴The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.^(AX) ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,^(AY) and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.^(AZ) ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars,^(BA) and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.^(BB) His face was like the sun^(BC) shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet^(BD) as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me^(BE) and said: “Do not be afraid.^(BF) I am the First and the Last.^(BG) ¹⁸I am the Living One; I was dead,^(BH) and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!^(BI) And I hold the keys of death and Hades.^(BJ)

¹⁹“Write, therefore, what you have seen,^(BK) what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand^(BL) and of the seven golden lampstands^(BM) is this: The seven stars are the angels^[e] of the seven churches,^(BN) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.^(BO)