Hosea 3-4

New King James Version

Israel Will Return to God

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a ^(A)lover^[a] and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”

²So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. ³And I said to her, “You shall ^(B)stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

⁴For the children of Israel shall abide many days ^(C)without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ^(D)ephod or ^(E)teraphim. ⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return and ^(F)seek the Lord their God and ^(G)David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the ^(H)latter days.

God’s Charge Against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a ^(I)charge^[b] against the inhabitants of the land:

“There is no truth or mercy
Or ^(J)knowledge of God in the land.
²By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed ^[c]upon bloodshed.
³Therefore ^(K)the land will mourn;
And ^(L)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

⁴“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those ^(M)who contend with the priest.
⁵Therefore you shall stumble ^(N)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
⁶^(O)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
^(P)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

⁷“The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
^(Q)I^[d] will change ^[e]their glory into shame.
⁸They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their ^[f]heart on their iniquity.
⁹And it shall be: ^(R)like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And ^[g]reward them for their deeds.
¹⁰For ^(S)they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

The Idolatry of Israel

¹¹“Harlotry, wine, and new wine ^(T)enslave the heart.
¹²My people ask counsel from their ^(U)wooden idols,
And their ^[h]staff informs them.
For ^(V)the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
¹³^(W)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
^(X)Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴“I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a ^(Y)ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.

¹⁵“Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
^(Z)Do not come up to Gilgal,
Nor go up to ^(AA)Beth^[i] Aven,
^(AB)Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—

¹⁶“For Israel ^(AC)is stubborn
Like a stubborn calf;
Now the Lord will let them forage
Like a lamb in ^[j]open country.

¹⁷“Ephraim is joined to idols,
^(AD)Let him alone.
¹⁸Their drink ^[k]is rebellion,
They commit harlotry continually.
^(AE)Her ^[l]rulers ^[m]dearly love dishonor.
¹⁹^(AF)The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And ^(AG)they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Footnotes

Hosea 3:1 Lit. friend or husband
Hosea 4:1 A legal complaint
Hosea 4:2 Lit. touching
Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; scribal tradition, Syr., Tg. They will change
Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; scribal tradition My glory
Hosea 4:8 Desires
Hosea 4:9 repay
Hosea 4:12 Diviner’s rod
Hosea 4:15 Lit. House of Idolatry or Wickedness
Hosea 4:16 Lit. a large place
Hosea 4:18 Or has turned aside
Hosea 4:18 Lit. shields
Hosea 4:18 Heb. difficult; a Jewish tradition shamefully love, ‘Give!’

Psalm 138:7-8

New King James Version

⁷^(A)Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸^(B)The Lord will ^[a]perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
^(C)Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

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Footnotes

Psalm 138:8 complete

Proverbs 29:18

New King James Version

¹⁸^(A)Where there is no ^[a]revelation, the people cast off restraint;
But ^(B)happy is he who keeps the law.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 29:18 prophetic vision

Proverbs 29:18 in all English translations

1 John 4

New King James Version

Love for God and One Another

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but ^(A)test the spirits, whether they are of God; because ^(B)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(C)Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³and every spirit that does not confess ^[a]that Jesus ^[b]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than ^(D)he who is in the world. ⁵^(E)They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and ^(F)the world hears them. ⁶We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. ^(G)By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love^(H)

⁷^(I)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who ^(J)loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹^(K)In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten ^(L)Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, ^(M)not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son ^(N)to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, ^(O)if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

¹²^(P)No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³^(Q)By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And ^(R)we have seen and testify that ^(S)the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵^(T)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and ^(U)he who abides in love abides in God, and God ^(V)in him.

The Consummation of Love

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that ^(W)we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹^(X)We love ^[c]Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

²⁰^(Y)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[d]how can he love God ^(Z)whom he has not seen? ²¹And ^(AA)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.