Hosea 4-5

English Standard Version

The Lord Accuses Israel

4 ^(A)Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for ^(B)the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
    and ^(C)no knowledge of God in the land;
²^(D)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
    they break all bounds, and ^(E)bloodshed follows bloodshed.
³Therefore ^(F)the land mourns,
    and all who dwell in it languish,
^(G)and also the beasts of the field
    and the birds of the heavens,
    ^(H)and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴^(I)Yet let no one contend,
    and let none accuse,
    for with you is ^(J)my contention, O priest.^[a]
⁵You shall stumble by day;
    the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
    and I will destroy ^(K)your mother.
⁶My people are destroyed ^(L)for lack of knowledge;
    ^(M)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you ^(N)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    ^(O)I also will forget your children.

⁷^(P)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    ^(Q)I will change their glory into shame.
⁸^(R)They feed on the sin^[b] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
⁹^(S)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
¹⁰^(T)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
    they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
    to cherish ¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine,
    which ^(U)take away the understanding.
¹²My people ^(V)inquire of a piece of wood,
    and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^(W)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
    and they have left their God to play the whore.
¹³^(X)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
    and burn offerings on the hills,
^(Y)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
    because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
    and your brides commit adultery.
¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
    nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^(Z)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
    and sacrifice with ^(AA)cult prostitutes,
and a people ^(AB)without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O ^(AC)Israel,
    let not ^(AD)Judah become guilty.
^(AE)Enter not into ^(AF)Gilgal,
    nor go up to ^(AG)Beth-aven,
    and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer,
    Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
    like a lamb in a broad pasture?

¹⁷^(AH)Ephraim is joined to idols;
    ^(AI)leave him alone.
¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    ^(AJ)their rulers^[c] dearly love shame.
¹⁹^(AK)A wind has wrapped them^[d] in its wings,
    and they shall ^(AL)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

5 ^(AM)Hear this, O priests!
    Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
    For the judgment is for you;
for ^(AN)you have been a snare at Mizpah
    and a net spread upon ^(AO)Tabor.
²And ^(AP)the revolters ^(AQ)have gone deep into slaughter,
    but ^(AR)I will discipline all of them.

³^(AS)I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
    Israel is defiled.
⁴^(AT)Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
For ^(AU)the spirit of whoredom is within them,
    and they know not the Lord.

⁵^(AV)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[e]
    Israel and ^(AW)Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
    ^(AX)Judah also shall stumble with them.
⁶^(AY)With their flocks and herds they shall go
    to seek the Lord,
^(AZ)but they will not find him;
    ^(BA)he has withdrawn from them.
⁷^(BB)They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
    for they have borne alien children.
    Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

⁸^(BC)Blow the horn in ^(BD)Gibeah,
    the trumpet in ^(BE)Ramah.
Sound the alarm at ^(BF)Beth-aven;
    we follow you,^[f] O Benjamin!
⁹Ephraim shall become a desolation
    in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
    I make known what is sure.
¹⁰The princes of Judah have become
    like ^(BG)those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(BH)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
    because he was determined to go after filth.^[g]
¹²But I am ^(BI)like a moth to Ephraim,
    and ^(BJ)like dry rot to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,
    and Judah ^(BK)his wound,
then Ephraim went ^(BL)to Assyria,
    and sent to the great king.^[h]
^(BM)But he is not able to cure you
    or heal ^(BN)your wound.
¹⁴For I will be ^(BO)like a lion to ^(BP)Ephraim,
    and like a young lion to the house of ^(BQ)Judah.
^(BR)I, even I, will tear and go away;
    I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

¹⁵^(BS)I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and ^(BT)in their distress earnestly seek me.

Footnotes

Hosea 4:4 Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest
Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
Hosea 4:18 Hebrew shields
Hosea 4:19 Hebrew her
Hosea 5:5 Or in his presence
Hosea 5:8 Or after you
Hosea 5:11 Or to follow human precepts
Hosea 5:13 Or to King Jareb

1 Peter 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of ^(A)the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²according to ^(B)the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(C)in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and ^(D)for sprinkling with his blood:

May ^(E)grace and ^(F)peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

³^(G)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^(H)According to his great mercy, ^(I)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^(J)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to ^(K)an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and ^(L)unfading, ^(M)kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God's power are being guarded ^(N)through faith for a salvation ^(O)ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by ^(P)various trials, ⁷so that ^(Q)the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes ^(R)though it is tested by ^(S)fire—may be found to result in ^(T)praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸^(U)Though you have not seen him, you love him. ^(V)Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹obtaining ^(W)the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, ^(X)the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹inquiring ^(Y)what person or time^[a] ^(Z)the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating ^(AA)when he predicted ^(AB)the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹²^(AC)It was revealed to them that ^(AD)they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you ^(AE)by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, ^(AF)things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

¹³Therefore, ^(AG)preparing your minds for action,^[b] and ^(AH)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, ^(AI)do not be conformed to the passions ^(AJ)of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but ^(AK)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^(AL)in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, ^(AM)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷And if you ^(AN)call on him as Father who ^(AO)judges ^(AP)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves ^(AQ)with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you ^(AR)were ransomed from ^(AS)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but ^(AT)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^(AU)a lamb ^(AV)without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^(AW)was made manifest ^(AX)in the last times for the sake of you ²¹^(AY)who through him are believers in God, ^(AZ)who raised him from the dead and ^(BA)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^(BB)a sincere brotherly love, ^(BC)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³^(BD)since you have been born again, ^(BE)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^(BF)the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for

^(BG)“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
²⁵^(BH)but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word ^(BI)is the good news that was preached to you.

Footnotes

1 Peter 1:11 Or what time or circumstances
1 Peter 1:13 Greek girding up the loins of your mind

Psalm 135:1-7

English Standard Version

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

135 ^(A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
    give praise, O ^(B)servants of the Lord,
²who ^(C)stand in the house of the Lord,
    in ^(D)the courts of the house of our God!
³Praise the Lord, for ^(E)the Lord is good;
    sing to his name, ^(F)for it is pleasant!^[a]
⁴For the Lord has ^(G)chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel as his ^(H)own possession.

⁵For I know that ^(I)the Lord is great,
    and that our Lord is above all gods.
⁶^(J)Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
⁷^(K)He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
    who ^(L)makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings forth the wind from his ^(M)storehouses.

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Footnotes

Psalm 135:3 Or for he is beautiful

Proverbs 29:9-11

English Standard Version

⁹If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
    the fool only rages and laughs, and there is ^(A)no quiet.
¹⁰Bloodthirsty men ^(B)hate one who is blameless
    and seek the life of the upright.^[a]
¹¹A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
    but a wise man quietly holds it back.