Bible in 90 Days
Daniel’s Prayer
9 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes,[a] who was a Mede by descent and who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign,[b] I, Daniel, understood from the scrolls that, according to the word of the Lord given to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years it would take to complete the devastation of Jerusalem was seventy years.
3 With fasting, sackcloth, and ashes I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him in prayer and to plead for grace. 4 I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I made confession.
Please, Lord, you are the great God, who is to be feared,[c] who keeps the covenant, and who shows mercy to those who love him and keep his commands. 5 We have sinned. We have been guilty. We have acted wickedly. We have rebelled and turned aside from your commands and standards. 6 We did not listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, officials, and fathers and to all the people of the land.
7 Righteousness is yours, Lord, but we are filled with shame this day—we the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, both near and far, in all the lands where you have banished them because of the treachery with which they betrayed you. 8 Lord, we are filled with shame—our kings, our officials, and our fathers, who sinned against you. 9 Acts of compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God by walking according to his laws that he set before us through the hand of his servants, the prophets. 11 All Israel violated your law and turned away by not listening to your voice. So you poured out the curse on us and fulfilled the oath that is written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, because we sinned against him.
12 God has fulfilled the words that he spoke against us and against our judges by bringing such a great disaster upon us. What was done in Jerusalem has never been done under all of heaven. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster came upon us, but we did not seek the favor of the Lord our God to turn from our guilt and to gain insight into your truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord watched over the disaster and brought it upon us, because the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does, but we did not listen to his voice.
15 And now, Lord our God, you who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself to this very day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16 Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain, although, because of our sins and the guilt of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are viewed with contempt by everyone around us.
17 Now listen, our God, to the prayer of your servant and to his plea for grace, and let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary for your sake, my Lord. 18 My God, turn your ear toward us and listen. Open your eyes and see the desolation that is upon us and the city that is called by your name. No, it is not because of our righteous acts that we are casting our plea for grace before you, but because of your great acts of compassion. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay attention! Act, and do not delay—for your sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
Gabriel Explains Jerusalem’s Future
20 While I was still speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, I was casting my prayer for grace, concerning the holy mountain of my God, before the Lord my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the first vision, touched me. I was completely exhausted.[d] It was about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me, “Daniel, now I have come to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your plea for grace, a word went out, and I came to declare it to you, because you are very treasured. So pay attention to the word and understand the vision.”
The Vision of Seventy Sevens
24 Seventy sevens[e] are determined concerning your people and your holy city:
to end rebellion,
to finish sin,
and to atone for guilt,
to bring everlasting righteousness,
to seal up prophetic vision,
and to anoint a most holy one.[f]
25 You should know and have insight. From the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one,[g] a ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens.[h] Jerusalem will be rebuilt with public squares and a moat, but during troubled times.
26 Then after the sixty-two sevens, the anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. Both the city and the holy place will be destroyed by the people of a ruler who is coming,[i] and its end will be with a flood. There will be war until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
27 He[j] will confirm a covenant for the many during one seven. In the middle of the seven, he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease.
On the wing of abominations is one who causes desolation, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who causes desolation.
Daniel’s Vision of a Messenger
10 In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia,[k] a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar. Now the message was true. It was about a great war. He understood the message, and understanding came to him through the vision.
2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three whole weeks. 3 I ate no expensive food, and no meat or wine entered my mouth. I did not anoint myself at all until the completion of three whole weeks.
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was beside the Great River, that is, the Tigris. 5 I looked up, and there, right in front of me, I saw a man dressed in linen. Around his waist he was wearing a belt made from gold of Uphaz. 6 His body was like topaz, and his face looked like lightning. His eyes were like burning torches, and his arms and feet were like polished bronze. The sound of his words was like the sound of an army.
7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision. The men who were with me did not see the vision, but they were overwhelmed by fear and trembling, so they ran away to hide. 8 I was left alone, and I saw this great vision. No strength was left in me. My appearance changed for the worse. I became very pale,[l] and I had no strength. 9 I heard the sound of his words, but as I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep, facedown, with my face to the ground.
10 Then a hand touched me and pulled me up, trembling, to my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, “Daniel, you are a highly valued man. Understand the words that I am speaking to you. Stand up where you are, because now I have been sent to you.” When he spoke this word to me, I stood up, shaking.
12 He said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day that you began to commit your heart to gaining understanding and to humbling yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 However, an officer of the kingdom of Persia was standing against me for twenty-one days. Yet Michael, one of the chief officers, came to help me, for I had been left there against the kings of Persia. 14 I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision concerns days still to come.”
15 As he spoke these words to me, I pressed my face to the ground and was silent. 16 Then someone whose form was like a son of man was touching my lips. So I opened my mouth and spoke and said to the one standing in front of me, “My lord, pain has come upon me in the vision, and I have no strength left in me. 17 How can this servant of my lord speak with my lord? And I, from now on—no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”
18 The one whose appearance was like a man touched me again and strengthened me. 19 He said to me, “Do not be afraid, you highly valued man. Peace to you. Be strong! Be strong!”
As he spoke with me I was strengthened, and I said, “Keep speaking, my lord, because you strengthen me.”
20 He said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight against the official of Persia. But after I leave that battle, the prince of Greece will come. 21 Nevertheless, I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. No one is supporting me against these enemies except Michael, your prince. 11 1 In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to strengthen and protect him.”[m]
The Messenger Reveals Future Battles[n]
Xerxes of Persia[o]
2 Now I will tell you the truth: Look, three more kings will arise for Persia. Then the fourth one will gain great riches, more than anyone else. As he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir everyone up against the kingdom of Greece.
Alexander the Great[p]
3 A warrior king will arise. He will rule a great dominion and will do as he pleases. 4 But as he rises, his kingdom will be broken and be divided to the four winds of heaven, but it will not be passed on to his descendants. It will not be ruled with the same ruling power with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these.
The Ptolemies Versus the Seleucids[q]
5 The King of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become stronger than he and rule a dominion greater than his.[r]
6 After some years, they will make an alliance. The daughter of the King of the South will come to the King of the North and make a fair agreement. However, she will not keep the strength of her arm, and he and his arm[s] will not endure. She will be given up—she and those who brought her, the one who fathered her,[t] and the one who strengthened her during these times.[u]
7 But one who is a branch from her root will arise in his place.[v] He will come against the army and come into the fortress of the King of the North. He will make war with them and win. 8 He will also take their gods captive to Egypt with their cast images and with their valuable silver and gold vessels. For some years he will leave the King of the North alone. 9 But the King of the North will come into the kingdom of the King of the South. Then he will return to his own land.
10 His sons[w] will stir themselves up and will gather a huge force of many armies, which will keep coming like an overflowing flood. They will stir themselves up again as far as his fortress.[x]
11 The King of the South will be enraged. He will go out and fight with the King of the North. The King of the North will raise up a great army, but the army will be handed over to the King of the South. 12 When the King of the North’s army is swept away, and the King of the South becomes arrogant, though he will cause tens of thousands to fall, he will not win.[y]
Antiochus the Great
13 The King of the North will again raise an army, which will be greater than the first army, and after some years he will keep coming with a great army and many supplies. 14 In those times, many will rise up against the King of the South. Violent men from your own people will lift themselves up in fulfillment of this vision, but they will fail. 15 The King of the North will come and build siege works and capture a fortified city. The forces of the south will not stand, not even its best troops, because they will have no strength to stand. 16 The one who comes against him[z] will do as he pleases, and no one will stand in his way. He will stand in the beautiful land,[aa] and it will be completely in his power. 17 He will be determined to come with the power of his entire kingdom and to bring a treaty with him, which he will enforce. He will give his daughter to the King of the South in marriage in order to destroy the southern kingdom. But his plan will not succeed or turn out to his advantage. 18 He will focus his attack on the coastlands and capture many. However, a commander will put an end to his insolence. Moreover, he will make him pay for his insolence. 19 Then the King of the North will turn his face toward the fortresses of his land. He will stumble and fall and not be found.[ab]
20 Then one will arise in his place who will send an oppressive tax collector for the glory of his kingdom. However, in a few days he will be broken, but not in anger or battle.
Antiochus IV
21 A despicable person will arise in his place, but they will not confer the royal majesty upon him. He will come when the kingdom is at ease and seize it through smooth, slippery talk. 22 A powerful force will be overpowered by him and broken, together with a leader of the covenant. 23 After an alliance is made with the leader of the covenant, the despicable person will act deceitfully. He will rise up and become powerful with a small nation. 24 He will come to the richest parts of the province when it is at ease, and he will do what his fathers and his fathers’ fathers did not do. He will distribute plunder and property to them. He will come up with plans against strongholds, but only for a time.
25 He will awaken his power and his courage against the King of the South with a great army. The King of the South will stir himself up for battle with a very great and powerful army, but he will not succeed because schemes will be plotted against him. 26 Those who eat his special royal food will try to break him, and his army will be swept away. Many will fall, struck down in battle.
27 The two kings, whose hearts are bent to evil, will sit at one table and lie to each other, but this scheming will not succeed, because the end is still set for an appointed time. 28 The King of the North will return to his land with a lot of captured possessions and with his heart set against the holy covenant. He will take action and then return to his own land.
29 At the appointed time he will return and come into the South again, but this later invasion will not turn out like the first invasion. 30 Ships from Kittim will come against him, and he will be humbled.[ac]
Then he will turn and become furious against the holy covenant and take action. He will return and show favor to those who abandon the holy covenant. 31 His forces will arise, profane the temple fortress, abolish the continual daily sacrifice, and set up the abominable thing that causes desolation. 32 So he will corrupt wicked men of the covenant with smooth talk, but a people who know their God will be strong and take action.
33 Those of the people who have insight will make many understand, but they will fall by the sword, and to flames, captivity, and plunder for some time. 34 However, when they stumble, they will be aided by a little help, and many will join them insincerely. 35 Some of those who have insight will stumble so that they may be refined, purified, and made white until the time of the end, for it is still set for an appointed time.
The Antichrist and the Time of the End[ad]
36 The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt himself and magnify himself over every god, and he will speak amazing things against the God of Gods. He will prosper until furious anger is completed, because what has been determined shall be done. 37 He will not favor the God of his fathers. He also will not favor the desire of women or any god, because he will exalt himself above all of them. 38 He will honor a god of fortresses in their place. He will honor a god whom his fathers did not know with gold, silver, precious stones, and very valuable things. 39 He will deal with strong fortresses with the help of a foreign god. To all who acknowledge him, he will give great honor and make them rulers over many people. What is more, he will parcel out land for a price.
40 Then, at the time of the end, the King of the South will wage war against him, and the King of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will enter countries like a flood and overflow them. 41 He will enter the beautiful land, and many will stumble. However, these nations will be delivered from his power: Edom, Moab, and the best of the Ammonites. 42 He will seek to harm countries, and the land of Egypt will not be one that escapes. 43 He will rule over the treasures of gold and silver and over all of the very valuable things of Egypt. Libyans and Cushites will be within his grasp. 44 However, reports from the east and from the north will terrify him. He will go out in great anger to destroy and to completely wipe out many. 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas toward the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and there will be no one to help him.
The Resurrection to Eternal Life
12 Then at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress that has not happened from the first time that there was a nation until that time.
At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many who are sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt. 3 Those who have insight will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever. 4 Now you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the scroll until the time of the end. Many will continue running back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
The Messenger Concludes His Revelation
5 I, Daniel, looked, and there were two others standing there, one on the near bank of the river and the other on the far bank of the river. 6 Someone said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the end of these amazing things?” 7 Then I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river. He raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and then, when the rejection of the holy people is finished, all these things will be finished.[ae]
8 I myself heard, but I did not understand. So I said, “Lord, what will be the end result of these things?”
9 He said:
Go, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
11 From the time when the regular daily offering is removed and an abominable thing that causes desolation is set up, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred thirty-five days.
13 But you, go on your way to the end. You will rest and rise to your assigned inheritance at the end of the days.
Hosea’s Wife and Children
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Be’eri,[af] in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, the king of Israel.
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go. Take for yourself an immoral wife and children produced by sexual immorality,[ag] because the land has been committing flagrant immorality, turning away from the Lord.”
3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She conceived and gave birth to a son for him.
4 The Lord said to him, “Name him Jezre’el,[ah] because in a little while I will inflict punishment on the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezre’el. I will destroy the ruling power of the house of Israel. 5 In that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezre’el.”
6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.
The Lord said to him, “Name her Lo Ruhamah,[ai] because I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. Indeed, I will certainly not forgive them. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah. I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”[aj]
8 Gomer weaned Lo Ruhamah. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son.
9 The Lord said, “Name him Lo Ammi,[ak] because you are not my people, and I will not be the Lord for you.”[al]
A Promise of Future Blessing
10 Nevertheless, the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. Then, in the place where they were told, “You are not my people,” they will be told, “You are children of the living God.” 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one head for themselves, and they will go up from the land, for the day of Jezre’el will be great.[am]
Israel Rebuked, Punished, and Restored
2 Plead with[ap] your mother!
Plead with her, because she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her put away her sexual immorality from her presence
and her acts of adultery from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked
and expose her as she was on the day she was born.
I will make her like a wilderness.
I will cause her to be like a dry land.
I will cause her to die of thirst.
4 I will have no compassion on her children,
because they are children of promiscuity,
5 because their mother has been promiscuous.[aq]
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
She said, “I will chase after my lovers,
the ones who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my flax, my olive oil and my drinks.”
6 Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block your[ar] way with thorns.
I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
7 She will chase after her lovers,
but she will not reach them.
She will seek them,
but she will not find them.
She will say, “I will go back to my first husband,
because then it was better for me than it is now.”
8 But she would not acknowledge that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil.
I gave her large amounts of silver and gold—her people used it for Baal!
9 That is why I will take back my grain during harvest time,
and my new wine in its season.
I will also take away my wool and my flax that were given to cover her nakedness.
10 Then I will expose her shameful nakedness in the sight of her lovers.
No one will deliver her from my hand.
11 I will put an end to all her celebration:
her pilgrimage festivals,[as] her monthly new moons, and her weekly Sabbaths—
all her appointed festivals.
12 I will devastate her vines and her fig trees,
about which she said, “These are the payment[at] that my lovers gave me.”
I will make them into a scrub forest,
and the wild animals will eat the crops.
13 I will punish her for the days with the Baals, on which she repeatedly offered incense to them.
She adorned herself with her rings[au] and her jewelry,
and then she chased after her lovers,
and she forgot me, declares the Lord.
14 But watch! I am going to court her.
I will bring her into the wilderness.
I will speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her.
The Valley of Achor[av] will be a door of hope.
She will respond there as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 In that day, declares the Lord, this is what will take place:
You will call me “my husband.”
You will no longer call me “my master.”[aw]
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth.
She will no longer call them by their names.[ax]
18 In that day I will make a covenant for the Israelites with the wild animals, with the birds of the sky and the things that creep on the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword.
I will abolish war from the land.
I will allow the people to lie down safely.[ay]
19 I will pledge you to myself in marriage forever.
I will pledge you to myself in marriage—
with righteousness, justice, mercy, and compassion.
20 In faithfulness I will pledge you to myself in marriage,
and you will know the Lord.
21 In that day this is what will happen:
I will respond, declares the Lord.
I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil.
They will respond to Jezre’el.
23 I will sow her for myself in the land.
I will have compassion for Lo Ruhamah,[az]
and I will tell Lo Ammi,[ba] “You are my people,”
and he will say, “You are my God!”
The Prophet’s Reconciliation With His Wife:
A Picture of the Lord’s Love
3 The Lord said to me, “Go again. Show love to a woman who is loved by another man, a woman who keeps committing adultery. Show love just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they keep turning to other gods and loving the raisin cakes.”[bb]
2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and nine bushels[bc] of barley. 3 I said to her, “You will stay with me for many days. You must not be promiscuous.[bd] You must not be with any other man, and I will also be for you.”
4 So the people of Israel will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred memorial stones, and without the special vest[be] or family idols.[bf] 5 Afterward the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
The Lord’s Charges Against Israel and Its Priests
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you people of Israel,
because the Lord has charges to make against the inhabitants of the land,
because there is no truth,
there is no mercy,
and there is no knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is cursing, lying, murder, theft, and adultery.
They break out in violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,[bg]
and everyone who dwells in it wastes away
along with the wild animals and the birds in the sky.
Even the fish of the sea have been removed.
4 Yet no one should bring charges.
No one should accuse,
because your people are like those who dispute with a priest.[bh]
5 You will stumble by day,
and the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
I will also destroy your mother.
6 My people have been destroyed because of lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you
from serving as a priest for me.
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.
I changed their glory into shame.[bi]
8 They feed on the sin of my people.
They set their desire on things that make them guilty.
9 So it will be the same for people as for priests.
I will punish them for their ways.
I will repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but not be satisfied.
They will engage in sexual immorality, but not increase.
This will take place because they have abandoned the Lord to devote themselves to 11 sexual sin.[bj]
Wine and new wine take away their understanding.[bk]
12 My people consult their wooden idol,
and their fortunetellers wand gives them information,
because a promiscuous spirit has led them astray,
and they behave like a whore instead of following their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops.
They burn incense on the hills, and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
because their shade is pleasant.
That is why your daughters commit fornication,[bl]
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit fornication,
or your brides when they commit adultery,
because the men consort with prostitutes
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes.
So the people without understanding will come to ruin.
15 Though you, Israel, practice sexual immorality,
Judah should not follow your guilty way.
Do not go to Gilgal.
Do not go up to Beth Aven.
Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives.”
16 For Israel has become as stubborn as a heifer.
How can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols.
Let him go his own way!
18 Their alcoholic drinks are used up,
but they keep practicing sexual immorality anyway.
Their rulers, who should be their shields, instead love shame.
19 The wings of the wind will sweep them away,
and they will be put to shame because of their sacrifices.
Judgment on Israel’s Priests and Kings
5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For this judgment applies to you,
because you were a trap at Mizpah
and a net spread out on Mount Tabor.
2 The rebels sink deeper into slaughter,
but I will discipline all of them.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me.
Now, Ephraim, you still practice sexual immorality.
Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not allow them to return to their God.
For a spirit of prostitution lies within them,
and they do not know the Lord.
5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against them.
Israel and Ephraim will stumble over their guilt.
Judah also will stumble with them.
6 They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him.
He has withdrawn from them.
7 They acted treacherously against the Lord.
They even gave birth to illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them along with their allotted land.
8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah
and the trumpet in Ramah!
Raise a battle cry at Beth Aven: “Lead the way, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become desolate ruins on the day it is punished.[bm]
What I have made known among the tribes of Israel will certainly happen.
10 The officials of Judah are like people who move a boundary stone.
I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to pursue worthless idols.[bn]
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like decay to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah saw his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent to the Great King for help,
but he is not able to heal you,
and he will not cure your wound,
14 because I will be like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear him to pieces and go away.
I will carry them off, and there will be no one who can rescue them.
15 I will go. I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will earnestly seek me.
Israel’s Need to Return to the Lord
6 Come, let us return to the Lord.
For he has torn us to pieces,
but he will heal us.
He has struck us,
but he will bandage our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord.
Let us pursue knowledge of the Lord.
As surely as the sun rises,
the Lord will appear.
He will come to us like a heavy rain,
like the spring rain that waters the earth.
God’s Grief Over Israel’s Impenitence
4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
For your faithfulness[bo] is like a morning mist,
like early dew that disappears.
5 That is why I cut them to pieces by means of the prophets.
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
The judgments against you go forth like the light.
6 For I desire mercy,[bp] and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
7 Like Adam,[bq] they have broken the covenant.
They acted treacherously against me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with bloody footprints.
9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man,
so do bands of priests.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem.
They have committed shameful crimes.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing.
Ephraim practices sexual immorality there.
Israel defiles itself.
11 Judah, also for you, a harvest has been appointed,
when I restore the fortunes of my people.[br]
Israel’s Corruption
7 Whenever I want to heal Israel,
the guilt of Ephraim is uncovered,
and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed,
because they deal dishonestly.
Thieves come inside,
and bandits raid outside.
2 In their hearts Ephraim does not realize that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds are all around them.
They are in front of my face.
3 The people of Ephraim make the king glad with their wickedness.
They make their officials happy with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven.
The baker does not need to stoke the fire
from the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened.
5 On the day[bs] of our[bt] king, the officials became sick from the intoxicating wine.
He reaches out his hand to the blasphemers.
6 Indeed, their hearts are like an oven.
They approach him, while plotting against him.
Their anger sleeps all night,
but in the morning it burns like a blazing fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven.
They devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen.
Not one of them calls on me.
8 Ephraim mixes itself with the nations.
Ephraim is a flatbread not turned over.
9 Strangers have devoured his strength,
but he does not realize it.
There are gray hairs on his head,
but he does not realize it.
10 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him,
yet they have not returned to the Lord their God,
and they have not sought him, despite all this.
Israel’s Instability
11 Ephraim is like a gullible dove, without sense.
They call to Egypt.
Then they appeal to Assyria.
12 When they go out, I will spread my net over them.
I will bring them down like birds from the sky.
I will discipline them, on the basis of the report about their assembly.[bu]
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction comes upon them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I want to redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry out to me with their hearts,
but they howl on their beds.
They gather together[bv] for grain and new wine.
They turn away from me.
15 Though I trained and strengthened their arms,
they plot evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward.[bw]
They are like an unreliable bow.
Their officials will fall by the sword because of their angry tongues.
Because of this, they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
The Lord’s Anger Burns Against Israel
8 Raise a ram’s horn to your lips!
A vulture is circling over[bx] the Lord’s house,
because they have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“My God, we acknowledge[by] you!”
3 But, in fact, Israel has rejected what is good.
An enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings, but not with my approval.
They installed officials, but I did not choose[bz] them.
From their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves,
so they will be cut off.
5 I reject[ca] your calf idol, Samaria!
My anger burns against these people!
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 That thing sitting there is from Israel!
A craftsman made it, so it is not God.
Certainly that calf of Samaria will be smashed to pieces!
7 Because they sow the wind,
they will reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain forms no heads,
so it will yield no flour.
Even if it would yield flour, foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up.
Now among the nations they are like a pot no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey all by itself.
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Even though they hire lovers among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to suffer in a little while,
because of oppression by a king with many officials.
11 Ephraim has multiplied his altars for sin offerings,
but for him they became altars for sinning.
12 Though I wrote many teachings from my law for them,
they regarded them as strange.
13 They offer sacrifices to me just to get the meat.[cb]
They sacrifice flesh and eat it,
but the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built palaces.[cc]
Judah has multiplied its fortified cities,
but I will send fire on its cities,
which will devour its citadels.
Days of Retribution Are Near
9 Do not rejoice, Israel, with excessive celebration like the nations,
because you act promiscuously against your God.
You love the wages you can earn as a prostitute at every threshing floor for grain.
2 The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them,
and the new wine will fail for them.
3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land.
Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord.
Their sacrifices will not be pleasing to him.
For them, their bread will become like the bread eaten by mourners.
Everyone who eats it will be unclean.
This bread will only serve their own appetite.
It will not enter the House of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festivals
and on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Know this! Even if they flee from destruction,
Egypt will gather them up.
Memphis will bury them.
Thistles will overgrow their silver treasures.
Thorns will grow inside their tents.
7 The days of reckoning have come.
The days of retribution have come.
Israel should know this!
Israel Rejects the Prophets
The prophet is treated like a fool,
and the man of the Spirit is called crazy,
because your guilt is enormous,
and because your hostility is so great.
8 A prophet is to be a watchman over Ephraim for my God,
but a fowler’s snare is laid for him on all of Ephraim’s paths,
and he encounters hostility in the house of his God.[cd]
9 They have become extremely corrupt,
as they were in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their guilt.
He will punish them for their sins.
Fertility Worship Brings No Fertility
10 I regarded Israel like grapes found in the wilderness.
I regarded your forefathers like the first ripe fruit on a fig tree in its first season,
but they went to Baal Peor, and they devoted themselves to a shameful thing,
and they became as disgusting as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Even if they bring up their children,
I will deprive them of each one.
Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!
13 I have seen Ephraim planted in a pleasant place like Tyre,
but Ephraim will bring its children out to the executioner.
14 Give to them, Lord—but what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 Because of all their evil in Gilgal,
I hated them there.
Because of their evil deeds,
I will drive them out of my house!
I will love them no more.
All their officials are rebels.
16 Ephraim has been struck down.
Their root has dried up.
They will bear no fruit.
Even if they give birth,
I will put their precious offspring to death.
17 My God will reject them, because they have not obeyed him.
They will be wanderers among the nations.
10 Israel was a spreading[ce] vine.
He produced fruit for himself.
The more fruit he produced, the more altars he made.
The richer the land became, the richer he made his sacred memorial stones.
2 Their hearts are insincere,[cf]
so now they will suffer for their guilt.
The Lord will break down their altars
and destroy their sacred memorial stones.
Kings Cannot Save You
3 Certainly now they will say, “We have no king
because we did not fear the Lord,
but what could such a king do for us anyway?”
4 They speak empty words.
With empty oaths, they make agreements.
That is why disputes sprout like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria will be terrified because of the calf[cg] of Beth Aven.
Yes, its people will mourn over it,
and its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,
over its lost glory, because it has gone into exile.
6 It will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the Great King.[ch]
Ephraim will be gripped with shame,
and Israel will be ashamed of its own idol.[ci]
7 Samaria, like her king, will be carried off
like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will become unusable.
Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
Learn the Lesson of Gibeah
9 Israel, you have sinned ever since the days of Gibeah,
where the evildoers took their stand.
The war against the evildoers caught up with them at Gibeah, did it not?
10 When I see fit, I will discipline them.[cj]
Peoples will be gathered against them
to bind them for their double guilt.[ck]
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh.
I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck.[cl]
I will harness Ephraim.
Judah will plow.
Jacob will break up the ground.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,
and reap mercy.
Break up your fallow ground.
It is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes and rains righteousness on you.
13 You have plowed wickedness.
You have reaped injustice.
You have eaten the fruit of your lies,
because you trusted in your own way,
in the large number of your strong warriors.
14 Therefore the roar of battle will rise against your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed,
as Shalman[cm] devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle.
Mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15 This is what will be done to you, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
God’s Love for Israel
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more I called to them,
the more they went away from me.[cn]
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning incense to idols.
3 Yet I was the one who taught Ephraim to walk.
I took them in my arms,[co]
but they did not realize that it was I who healed them.
4 I drew them with cords suitable for a man,[cp] with ropes of love.
For them I became like someone who lifts a yoke off their neck,
and I bent down to feed them.
5 They will not[cq] return into the land of Egypt.
Instead, an Assyrian will be their king,
because they refused to repent.
6 The sword will slash against their cities.
It will destroy the bars of their gates,
and it will devour them because of their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn away from me.
Though they call him the Most High, he certainly will not exalt them.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?[cr]
My heart is changed inside me.
All my compassion is stirred up.
9 I will not carry out my burning anger.
I will not destroy Ephraim again,
because I am God, and not man, the Holy One among you.
I will not enter a city.[cs]
10 They will follow the Lord.
He will roar like a lion.
Yes, he will roar, and his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
and like a dove from the land of Assyria.
I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.
Israel Must Repent
12 Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
Judah still strays from[ct] God,
even from the Holy One, who is faithful.[cu]
12 Ephraim feeds on wind
and chases the east wind all day.
He multiplies lies and violence.
They make a treaty with Assyria,
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.
2 The Lord has a case against Judah.
He will deal with Jacob according to his ways.
According to his deeds he will repay him.
3 In the womb Jacob grasped his brother by the heel,
and when he was a grown man, he struggled with God.
4 He wrestled with the Angel and prevailed.
He wept and sought his favor.
He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him,[cv]
5 namely, with the Lord, the God of Armies.
The Lord is the name by which he is to be remembered!
6 So return to your God.
Observe mercy and justice,
and wait for your God continually.
7 A merchant has fraudulent scales in his hand.
He loves to defraud others.
8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich.
I have secured wealth for myself.
Among all my possessions no one will find anything that makes me guilty of sin.”
9 But I have been the Lord your God from the time you left the land of Egypt.
I will make you dwell in tents again,
as in the days of the appointed festival.[cw]
10 I have spoken to the prophets.
I have given numerous visions.
I taught meaningful lessons through the prophets.
11 Since Gilead is wicked,
it is certain that they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
Yes, their altars are like piles of stones in the furrows of a field.
12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.
Israel worked as a servant to get a wife,
and for a wife, he took care of sheep.
13 By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet he took care of Israel.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger.
Therefore his Lord will leave him bloodied by his guilt
and bring his disgrace back on him.
Repentance or Disaster?
13 When Ephraim spoke, people would tremble.
He was highly honored in Israel,
but he became guilty through worshipping Baal, so he died.
2 Now they sin more and more.
They make cast images for themselves,
idols skillfully made from their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said about them, “The ones who sacrifice are humans who kiss calves!”[cx]
3 Therefore they will be like morning mist,
and like early dew that passes away,
like chaff that is blown away from the threshing floor,
and like smoke from a chimney.
4 But I have been the Lord your God since you left the land of Egypt.
You must not acknowledge any god except me.
There is no Savior except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
in a land burned by drought.
6 When they had pasture, they were satisfied.
When they were satisfied, their hearts became arrogant.
That is why they have forgotten me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.