Hosea 9-11

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Punish Israel

9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
    Exult not like the peoples;
^(A)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
    ^(B)You have loved a prostitute's wages
    on all threshing floors.
²^(C)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
    and ^(D)the new wine shall fail them.
³They shall not remain in ^(E)the land of the Lord,
    but ^(F)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
    and ^(G)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

⁴^(H)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
    ^(I)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like ^(J)mourners' bread to them;
    all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
    ^(K)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

⁵^(L)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
    and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶For behold, they are going away from destruction;
    but ^(M)Egypt shall gather them;
    Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess ^(N)their precious things of silver;
    ^(O)thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷^(P)The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come;
    Israel shall know it.
^(Q)The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
    and great hatred.
⁸The prophet is ^(R)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet ^(S)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
⁹^(T)They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as ^(U)in the days of Gibeah:
^(V)he will remember their iniquity;
    he will punish their sins.

¹⁰Like grapes in the wilderness,
    ^(W)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But ^(X)they came to Baal-peor
    and ^(Y)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and ^(Z)became detestable like the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim's ^(AA)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    ^(AB)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
¹²^(AC)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
^(AD)Woe to them
    when ^(AE)I depart from them!
¹³Ephraim, ^(AF)as I have seen, was like a young palm^[a] planted in a meadow;
    but ^(AG)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.^[b]
¹⁴Give them, O Lord—
    what will you give?
Give them ^(AH)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

¹⁵Every evil of theirs is in ^(AI)Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all ^(AJ)their princes are ^(AK)rebels.

¹⁶Ephraim is stricken;
    ^(AL)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^(AM)though they give birth,
    ^(AN)I will put their beloved children to death.
¹⁷^(AO)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    ^(AP)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 ^(AQ)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(AR)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
²Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord^[c] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³For now they will say:
    ^(AS)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴They utter ^(AT)mere words;
    with empty^[d] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(AU)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(AV)in the furrows of the field.
⁵The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(AW)the calf^[e] of ^(AX)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(AY)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[f] from them.
⁶^(AZ)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(BA)the great king.^[g]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(BB)of his idol.^[h]

⁷^(BC)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸The high places of ^(BD)Aven, ^(BE)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(BF)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(BG)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹From ^(BH)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[i] overtake them in Gibeah?
¹⁰^(BI)When I please, ^(BJ)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(BK)their double iniquity.

¹¹Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(BL)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(BM)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(BN)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
¹²^(BO)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(BP)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(BQ)rain righteousness upon you.

¹³^(BR)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴therefore ^(BS)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(BT)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(BU)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(BV)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(BW)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

The Lord's Love for Israel

11 ^(BX)When Israel was a child, ^(BY)I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I ^(BZ)called ^(CA)my son.
²^(CB)The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
^(CC)they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.

³Yet it was ^(CD)I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that ^(CE)I healed them.
⁴^(CF)I led them with cords of kindness,^[j]
    with the bands of love,
and ^(CG)I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and ^(CH)I bent down to them and fed them.

⁵^(CI)They shall not^[k] return to the land of Egypt,
    but ^(CJ)Assyria shall be their king,
    ^(CK)because ^(CL)they have refused to return to me.
⁶^(CM)The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them ^(CN)because of their own counsels.
⁷My people are bent ^(CO)on turning away from me,
    and though ^(CP)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

⁸How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^(CQ)How can I make you ^(CR)like Admah?
    How can I treat you ^(CS)like Zeboiim?
^(CT)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^(CU)for I am God and not a man,
    ^(CV)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.^[l]

¹⁰^(CW)They shall go after the Lord;
    ^(CX)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling ^(CY)from the west;
¹¹they shall come trembling like birds ^(CZ)from Egypt,
    and ^(DA)like doves ^(DB)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
¹²^[m] Ephraim ^(DC)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.

Footnotes

Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters
Hosea 10:2 Hebrew He
Hosea 10:4 Or vain (see Exodus 20:7)
Hosea 10:5 Or calves
Hosea 10:5 Or has gone into exile
Hosea 10:6 Or to King Jareb
Hosea 10:6 Or counsel
Hosea 10:9 Hebrew the children of injustice
Hosea 11:4 Or humaneness; Hebrew man
Hosea 11:5 Or surely
Hosea 11:9 Or into the city
Hosea 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew

Revelation 2

English Standard Version

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ^(A)him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, ^(B)who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²^(C)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^(D)have tested those ^(E)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up ^(F)for my name's sake, and you ^(G)have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^(H)the love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^(I)the works you did at first. If not, ^(J)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of ^(K)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷^(L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(M)To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of ^(N)the tree of life, which is in ^(O)the paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^(P)the first and the last, ^(Q)who died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and ^(R)your poverty (^(S)but you are rich) and the slander^[a] of ^(T)those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, ^(U)that you may be tested, and for ^(V)ten days ^(W)you will have tribulation. ^(X)Be faithful ^(Y)unto death, and I will give you ^(Z)the crown of life. ¹¹^(AA)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AB)The one who conquers will not be hurt by ^(AC)the second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^(AD)the sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, ^(AE)where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^(AF)deny my faith^[b] even in the days of Antipas ^(AG)my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ^(AH)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^(AI)eat food sacrificed to idols and ^(AJ)practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^(AK)the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, ^(AL)I will come to you soon and ^(AM)war against them with ^(AN)the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷^(AO)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AP)To the one who conquers I will give some of ^(AQ)the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^(AR)a new name written on the stone ^(AS)that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^(AT)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹^(AU)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^(AV)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^(AW)to practice sexual immorality and ^(AX)to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but ^(AY)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^(AZ)who searches mind and heart, and ^(BA)I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^(BB)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^(BC)do not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast ^(BD)what you have until I come. ²⁶^(BE)The one who conquers and who keeps my works ^(BF)until the end, ^(BG)to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ^(BH)he will ^(BI)rule^[c] them with a rod of iron, ^(BJ)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him ^(BK)the morning star. ²⁹^(BL)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’