Hosea 14:2-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Sincere Conversion and New Life
2 Return, Israel, to the Lord, your God;
you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
3 Take with you words,
and return to the Lord;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and take what is good.
Let us offer the fruit of our lips.(A)
4 [a]Assyria will not save us,
nor will we mount horses;(B)
We will never again say, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”(C)
5 I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely;
for my anger is turned away from them.
6 I will be like the dew for Israel:(D)
he will blossom like the lily;
He will strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
7 and his shoots will go forth.(E)
His splendor will be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like Lebanon cedar.(F)
8 Again they will live in his shade;
they will raise grain,
They will blossom like the vine,
and his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
9 Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols?(G)
I have humbled him, but I will take note of him.
I am like a verdant cypress tree.[b]
From me fruit will be found for you!
Epilogue
10 [c]Who is wise enough to understand these things?(H)
Who is intelligent enough to know them?
Straight are the paths of the Lord,(I)
the just walk in them,(J)
but sinners stumble in them.
Footnotes
- 14:4 These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.
- 14:9 Verdant cypress tree: the symbol of lasting life, the opposite of the sacred trees of the Baal cult (4:13). The Lord provides the “fruit” (peri) to Israel (2:7, 10), another instance of the wordplay on Ephraim (see notes on 9:16 and 13:15).
- 14:10 A challenge to the reader in the style of the wisdom literature.
Mark 12:28-34
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
28 One of the scribes,(A) when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 29 Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’(B) 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”(C) 32 The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ 33 And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”(D) 34 And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.(E)
The Question About David’s Son.[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 12:35–37 Jesus questions the claim of the scribes about the Davidic descent of the Messiah, not to deny it (Mt 1:1; Acts 2:20, 34; Rom 1:3; 2 Tm 2:8) but to imply that he is more than this. His superiority derives from his transcendent origin, to which David himself attested when he spoke of the Messiah with the name “Lord” (Ps 110:1). See also note on Mt 22:41–46.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.