Beginning
8 1 The destruction of Judah and Israel, because of their idolatry.
1 Set the trumpet to thy [a]mouth: he shall come as an eagle against the House of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my Law.
2 Israel shall [b]cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They have set up a [c]king, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols: therefore shall they be destroyed.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off: mine anger is kindled against them: how long will they be without [d]innocency!
6 [e]For it came even from Israel: the workman made it, therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7 For they have [f]sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall bring forth no meal: if so be it brought forth, the strangers shall devour it.
8 Israel is devoured, now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to Assyria: they are as a [g]wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10 Yet though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them and they shall sorrow a little for the [h]burden of the king and the princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, his altars shall be to sin.
12 I have written to them the great things of my Law: but they were counted as a [i]strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it: but the [j]Lord accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath forgotten his maker, and buildeth Temples, and Judah hath increased strong cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
9 Of the hunger and captivity of Israel.
1 Rejoice not, O Israel for joy [k]as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God: thou hast loved [l]a reward upon every corn floor.
2 [m]The floor, and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They will not dwell in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer [n]wine to the Lord, neither shall their sacrifices be pleasant unto him: but they shall be unto them as the bread of mourners: all that eat thereof, shall be polluted: for their bread [o]for their souls shall not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will ye do [p]then in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For lo, they are gone from [q]destruction: but Egypt shall gather them up, and Memphis shall bury them: the nettle shall possess the pleasant places of their silver, and the thorn shall be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation are come: the days of recompense are come: Israel shall know it: [r]the Prophet is a fool: the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity: therefore the hatred is great.
8 The watchman of Ephraim [s]should be with my God: but the Prophet is the snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They [t]are deeply set: they are corrupt as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like [u]grapes in the wilderness: I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and their abominations were according to [v]their lovers.
11 Ephraim their glory shall flee away like a bird: from the birth [w]and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet I will deprive them from being men: yea, woe to them, when I depart from them.
13 Ephraim, as I saw, is as a tree [x]in Tyre planted in a cottage: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
14 O Lord, give them: what wilt thou give them? give them a [y]barren womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in [z]Gilgal: for there do I hate them: for the wickedness of their inventions, I will cast them out of mine House: I will love them no more: all their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up: they can bring no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the dearest of their body.
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not obey him: and they shall wander among the nations.
10 1 Against Israel and his idols. 14 His destruction for the same.
1 Israel is a [aa]empty vine, yet hath it brought forth fruit unto itself, and according to the multitude of the fruit thereof he hath increased the altars: according to the [ab]goodness of their land they have made fair images.
2 Their heart is [ac]divided: now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars; he shall destroy their images.
3 For now they shall say, We have no [ad]King because we feared not the Lord: and what should a King do to us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making [ae]a covenant: thus [af]judgment groweth as wormwood in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall [ag]fear because of the calf of Beth Aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the [ah]Chemarims thereof, that rejoiced on it for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also brought to Assyria, for a present unto king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 Of Samaria, the king thereof is destroyed, as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of [ai]Aven shall be destroyed, even the sin of Israel: the thorn and the thistle shall grow upon their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, (A)Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us.
9 O Israel, thou hast [aj]sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they [ak]stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not [al]touch them.
10 It is my desire [am]that I should chastise them, and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall gather themselves in their two [an]furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as a heifer used to delight in [ao]threshing: but I will pass by her [ap]fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride: Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness: reap after the measure of mercy: [aq]break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 But you have plowed wickedness: ye have reaped iniquity: you have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thine own ways, and in the multitude of thy strong men,
14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy munitions shall be destroyed, as [ar]Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle: the mother with the children was dashed in pieces.
15 So shall Bethel do unto you, because of your malicious wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel be destroyed.
11 1 The benefits of the Lord toward Israel. 5 Their ingratitude against him.
1 When Israel [as]was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
2 They called them, but they [at]went thus from them: they sacrificed unto Baal, and burnt incense to images.
3 I led Ephraim also, as one should bear them in his arms: but they knew not that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords [au]of a man, even with bands of love, and I was to them, as he was taketh off the yoke from their jaws, and I laid the meat unto them.
5 He shall no more return into the land of Egypt: but Assyria shall be his [av]King, because they refused to convert.
6 And the sword shall fall on his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
7 And my people are bent to rebellion against me: though [aw]they called them to the most high, yet none at all would exalt him.
8 [ax]How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee, as [ay]Admah? how shall I set thee, as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me: [az]my repentings are rouled together.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath: I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man, the holy one in the midst of thee, and I will not [ba]enter into the city.
10 They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children of the West shall fear.
11 [bb]They shall fear as a sparrow out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria, and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.
12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with [bc]God, and is faithful with the Saints.
12 He admonisheth by Jacob’s example to trust in God, and not in riches.
1 Ephraim is fed [bd]with the wind, and followeth after the East wind: he increaseth daily lies and destruction, and they do make a covenant with Assyria, and [be]oil is carried into Egypt.
2 The Lord hath also a controversy with [bf]Judah, and will visit Jacob, according to his ways: according to his works, will he recompense him.
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had [bg]power with God,
4 And had [bh]power over the Angel, and prevailed: he wept and prayed unto him: [bi]he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us.
5 Yea, the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is himself his memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and hope still in thy God.
7 He is [bj]Canaan: the balances of decree are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, Notwithstanding I am rich, I have found me out riches in all my labors: they shall find none iniquity in me, [bk]that were wickedness.
9 Though I am the Lord thy God, from the land of Egypt, yet will I make thee to dwell in the tabernacles, as in [bl]the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by the Prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the Prophets.
11 Is there [bm]iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal, and their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 [bn]And Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep,
13 And by a [bo]Prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a Prophet was he reserved.
14 But Ephraim provoked him with high places: therefore shall his blood be poured upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord reward him.
13 1 The abomination of Israel, 9 and cause of their destruction.
1 When Ephraim spake, there was [bp]trembling: he [bq]exalted himself in Israel, but he hath sinned in Baal, [br]and is dead.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding: they were all the work of the craftsmen: they say one to another while they sacrifice a [bs]man, Let them kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the morning dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke that goeth out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the Lord thy God [bt]from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me: for there is no Savior beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
6 As in their pastures, so were they filled: they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.
7 And I will be unto them as a very lion, and as a leopard in the way of Assyria.
8 I will meet them, as a bear that is robbed of her whelps, and I will break the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beasts shall tear them.
9 O Israel, one [bu]hath destroyed thee, but in me is thine help.
10 [bv]I am: where is thy king that should help thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidest, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and I took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is [bw]bound up: his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son, else would he not stand still at the time, even at the [bx]breaking forth of the children.
14 I will redeem them from the power of the grave: I will deliver them from death: O [by]death, I will be thy death: O grave, I will be thy destruction: [bz]repentance is hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he grew up among his brethren, an East wind shall come, even the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and dry up his vein, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
14 1 The destruction of Samaria. 2 He exhorteth Israel to turn to God, who requireth praise and thanks.
1 Samaria shall be desolate: for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped.
2 O Israel, [ca]return unto the Lord thy God: for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
3 Take unto you words, and turn to the Lord, and say unto him, [cb]Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our [cc]lips.
4 Assyria shall [cd]not save us, neither will we ride upon horses, neither will we say anymore to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
5 [ce]I will heal their rebellion: I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
6 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily and fasten his roots, as the trees of Lebanon.
7 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
8 They that dwell under his [cf]shadow, shall return: they shall revive as the corn, and flourish as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
9 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore with idols? I [cg]have heard him, and looked upon him: I am like a green fir tree: upon me is thy fruit found.
10 Who is [ch]wise, and he shall understand these things? and prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are righteous and the just shall walk in them: but the wicked shall fall therein.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.