Psalm 85
The Voice
Psalm 85
For the worship leader. A song of the sons of Korah.
1 O Eternal One, there was a time when You were gracious to Your land;
You returned Jacob’s descendants from their captivity.
2 You forgave the iniquity of Your people,
covered all of their sins.
[pause][a]
3 There was a time when You restrained all of Your fierce wrath,
when You cooled Your hot anger.
4 O God of our salvation, bring us back again—as You did before—
and put away Your anger toward us.
5 Will You be mad at us forever?
Will You continue to be angry with our children and theirs?
6 Will You not bring us back to life once more
so that we, Your people, will find joy and pleasure in You?
7 O Eternal One, show us Your unfailing love;
give us what we truly need: Your salvation.
8 I will hear what the True God—the Eternal—will say,
for He will speak peace over His people,
peace over those who faithfully follow Him, [but do not let them abuse His gift and return to foolish ways].[b]
9 Without a doubt, His salvation is near for those who revere Him
so that He will be with us again and all His glory will fill this land.
10 Unfailing love and truth have met on their way;
righteousness and peace have kissed one another.
11 Truth will spring from the earth like a plant,
and justice will look down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Eternal will plant goodness in the earth,
and our land will yield great abundance.
13 Justice will come before Him,
marking out a path, setting a way for His feet.
Hosea 5
The Voice
5 Eternal One: Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you leaders of Israel!
Hear all of you in the royal court, My judgment is against you!
You’ve been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Mount Tabor;
you’ve led the people astray:
2 Those who have revolted against Me have dug a deep pit of slaughter,
so I’m going to punish all of you.
God is describing the fate of those rebellious leaders who have dug a deep hole: because of their depravity, they will be led to slavery in shackles.
Hosea’s prophecy is fulfilled in 722 b.c., when Shalmaneser V leads his Assyrian army to conquer Samaria, the capital city of Israel. But leveling the city and slaughtering countless citizens isn’t what ends Israel’s legacy. In the years following the war, Sargon II systematically deports the remaining Israelites to cities in the Assyrian Empire and repopulates Samaria with foreigners to suppress future rebellions. This policy decimates the cultures of the ten tribes who inhabited the Northern Kingdom and leads to the fabled “Lost Tribes of Israel.”
It may be assumed that the members of the ten tribes assimilate into their new cultures and abandon their history and religion; they simply blend into their surroundings to survive. However, in the third century a.d., Christian poet Commodian compiles the writings of several early rabbis and weaves the story of the ten tribes’ post-deportation lives. These ten tribes reside in a sort of paradise beyond a river, where everyone lives long lives, experiences no pain, and follows God’s laws. One day, the story goes, these tribes will return to Jerusalem, recapture her, and dwell in her.
3 I know Ephraim; Israel isn’t hiding from Me.
Even now Ephraim plays the part of a whore;
Israel is covering herself in impurity.
4 They’re so caught up in their way of life
that they can’t return to their God.
They have a spirit of prostitution within them,
so they don’t know Me; I am the Eternal One.
5 The pride of Israel testifies against her to her very face.
Israel (which is called Ephraim) will stagger because of its guilt.
Judah, too, will stagger with them.
6 They’ll go with their flocks and their herds to seek Me,
offering a multitude of sacrifices, but they won’t find Me because they are abandoned.
7 They’ve been unfaithful to Me, the Eternal,
and produced defiled, illegitimate children.
Now at a new moon, a foreign nation will devour them and their fields.
8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
sound the trumpet in Ramah, and raise a war cry in Beth-aven.
Even as your cities fall, Benjamin, more armies are behind you!
9 Ephraim will be devastated when they are punished with this invasion from the south.
(This is sure to happen, and I’m announcing it to all the tribes of Israel!)
10 But I’ll also punish the leaders of Judah—
I’ll pour out My wrath on them like water—
Because they’re trying to snatch this territory of Benjamin’s.
They’ve become like the dishonest people who move boundary-stones.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by punishment,
because he insists on pursuing empty ways and trusting others to save him.
12 In My judgments I’m like a disease that devours Ephraim as a moth eats wool,
like an infected wound to the people of Judah.
13 But when Ephraim saw how sick he was
and Judah saw his open sore,
Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king for relief.
But a foreign ruler can’t cure you; he can’t heal your sore.
The great king is the king of Assyria from whom both Israel and Judah eventually seek help.
14 I’ll be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to the people of Judah.
I’ll tear them to pieces myself and make off with My kill.
I’ll carry it away, and no one will be able to take it from Me.
15 I’ll go back to My lair and stay there until they admit their guilt and come looking for Me.
In their distress, they’ll desperately try to find Me.
Acts 2:22-36
The Voice
22 All of you Israelites, listen to my message: it’s about Jesus of Nazareth, a man whom God authenticated for you by performing in your presence powerful deeds, wonders, and signs through Him, just as you yourselves know. 23 This man, Jesus, who came into your hands by God’s sure plan and advanced knowledge, you nailed to a cross and killed in collaboration with lawless outsiders. 24 But God raised Jesus and unleashed Him from the agonizing birth pangs of death, for death could not possibly keep Jesus in its power. 25 David spoke of Jesus’ resurrection, saying:
I see the Lord is ever present with me.
I will not live in fear or abandon my calling because He guides my right hand.
26 My heart is glad; my soul rejoices;
my body is safe.
27 You will not abandon me to experience the suffering of a miserable afterlife,
nor leave Your Holy One to rot alone.
28 Instead, You direct me on a path that leads to a beautiful life.
As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending, and I know true joy and contentment.[a]
29 My fellow Israelites, I can say without question that David our ancestor died and was buried, and his tomb is with us today. 30 David wasn’t speaking of himself; he was speaking as a prophet. He saw with prophetic insight that God had made a solemn promise to him: God would put one of his descendants on His throne. 31 Here’s what David was seeing in advance; here’s what David was talking about—the Anointed One would be resurrected. Think of David’s words about Him not being abandoned to the place of the dead nor being left to decay in the grave. 32 He was talking about Jesus, the One God has raised, whom all of us have seen with our own eyes and announce to you today. 33 Since Jesus has been lifted to the right hand of God—the highest place of authority and power—and since Jesus has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has now poured out what you have seen and heard here today. 34 Remember: David couldn’t have been speaking of himself rising to the heavens when he said,
The Master said to my master,
“Sit here at My right hand,
in the place of honor and power,
35 And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”[b]
36 Everyone in Israel should now realize with certainty what God has done: God has made Jesus both Lord and Anointed King—this same Jesus whom you crucified.
Footnotes
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
