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The Vine and the Calf
10 Israel is a lush[a] vine;(A)
it yields fruit for itself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars.(B)
The better his land produced,
the better they made the sacred pillars.(C)
2 Their hearts are devious;[b](D)
now they must bear their guilt.(E)
The Lord will break down their altars(F)
and demolish their sacred pillars.
3 In fact, they are now saying,
“We have no king!
For we do not fear the Lord.(G)
What can a king do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
taking false oaths while making covenants.(H)
So lawsuits break out
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.(I)
5 The residents of Samaria(J) will have anxiety
over the calf(K) of Beth-aven.(L)
Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;
the people will mourn over it,
over its glory.(M)
It will certainly depart from them.
6 The calf itself will be taken to Assyria(N)
as an offering to the great king.[c](O)
Ephraim will experience shame;(P)
Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.(Q)
7 Samaria’s king will disappear[d](R)
like foam[e] on the surface of the water.
8 The high places(S) of Aven, the sin of Israel,(T)
will be destroyed;
thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.(U)
They will say to the mountains,(V) “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”(W)
Israel’s Defeat because of Sin
9 Israel, you have sinned
since the days of Gibeah;(X)
they have taken their stand there.
Will not war against the unjust
overtake them in Gibeah?
10 I will discipline(Y) them at My discretion;(Z)
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bondage[f]
for their two crimes.(AA)
11 Ephraim is a well-trained calf(AB)
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on[g] her fine neck.(AC)
I will harness Ephraim;(AD)
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves(AE)
and reap faithful love;
break up your unplowed ground.(AF)
It is time to seek the Lord(AG)
until He comes(AH) and sends righteousness
on you like the rain.(AI)
13 You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;(AJ)
you have eaten the fruit of lies.(AK)
Because you have trusted in your own way[h]
and in your large number of soldiers,(AL)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
and all your fortifications will be demolished(AM)
in a day of war,
like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.
Mothers will be dashed to pieces
along with their children.(AN)
15 So it will be done to you, Bethel,(AO)
because of your extreme evil.
At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.
The Lord’s Love for Israel
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,(AP)
and out of Egypt I called My son.(AQ)
2 The more they[i] called them,[j](AR)
the more they[k] departed from Me.[l]
They kept sacrificing to the Baals(AS)
and burning offerings to idols.(AT)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,(AU)
taking them[m] in My arms,(AV)
but they never knew that I healed them.(AW)
4 I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.(AX)
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;(AY)
I bent down to give them food.(AZ)
5 Israel will not return to the land of Egypt
and Assyria will be his king,(BA)
because they refused to repent.(BB)
6 A sword will whirl through his cities;(BC)
it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,[n](BD)
because of their schemes.(BE)
7 My people are bent on turning from Me.(BF)
Though they call to Him on high,
He will not exalt them at all.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?(BG)
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?(BH)
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?(BI)
I have had a change of heart;
My compassion is stirred!
9 I will not vent the full fury of My anger;(BJ)
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.(BK)
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One among you;(BL)
I will not come in rage.[o]
10 They will follow the Lord;(BM)
He will roar like a lion.(BN)
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.(BO)
11 They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves(BP) from the land of Assyria.(BQ)
Then I will settle them in their homes.(BR)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 [p] Ephraim surrounds me with lies,(BS)
the house of Israel, with deceit.
Judah still wanders with God
and is faithful to the holy ones.[q][r]
God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs
12 Ephraim chases[s] the wind(BT)
and pursues the east wind.(BU)
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria,(BV)
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.(BW)
2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways;(BX)
He will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,(BY)
and as an adult he wrestled with God.(BZ)
4 Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought His favor.(CA)
He found him[t] at Bethel,(CB)
and there He spoke with him.[u](CC)
5 Yahweh is the God of Hosts;
Yahweh is His name.(CD)
6 But you must return to your God.(CE)
Maintain love and justice,(CF)
and always put your hope in God.(CG)
7 A merchant loves to extort(CH)
with dishonest scales in his hands.(CI)
8 But Ephraim says:
“How rich I have become;(CJ)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any crime in me(CK)
that I can be punished for!”[v]
Judgment on Apostate Israel
9 I have been Yahweh your God
ever since[w] the land of Egypt.(CL)
I will make you live in tents again,(CM)
as in the festival days.
10 I spoke through the prophets(CN)
and granted many visions;
I gave parables through the prophets.(CO)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,(CP)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;(CQ)
even their altars will be like heaps of rocks(CR)
on the furrows of a field.
Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram.(CS)
Israel worked to earn a wife;(CT)
he tended flocks for a wife.(CU)
13 The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,(CV)
and Israel was tended by a prophet.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,(CW)
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him(CX)
and repay him for his contempt.(CY)
13 When Ephraim spoke,(CZ) there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.(DA)
But he incurred guilt through Baal(DB) and died.
2 Now they continue to sin
and make themselves a cast image,(DC)
idols skillfully made from their silver,(DD)
all of them the work of craftsmen.(DE)
People say about them,
“Let the men who sacrifice[x] kiss the calves.”(DF)
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,(DG)
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,(DH)
or like smoke from a window.(DI)
Death and Resurrection
4 I have been Yahweh your God(DJ)
ever since[y] the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,(DK)
and no Savior exists besides Me.(DL)
5 I knew[z] you in the wilderness,(DM)
in the land of drought.
6 When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;(DN)
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.(DO)
Therefore they forgot Me.(DP)
7 So I will be like a lion(DQ) to them;
I will lurk like a leopard(DR) on the path.
8 I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,(DS)
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
9 I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but Me.[aa](DT)
10 Where now is your king,[ab](DU)
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the[ac] rulers[ad](DV) you demanded, saying,
“Give me a king and leaders”?
11 I give you a king in My anger(DW)
and take away a king in My wrath.(DX)
12 Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.(DY)
13 Labor pains come on him.(DZ)
He is not a wise son;(EA)
when the time comes,
he will not be born.[ae](EB)
14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem[af] them from death.(EC)
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?(ED)
Compassion is hidden from My eyes.(EE)
The Coming Judgment
15 Although he flourishes among his brothers,[ag](EF)
an east wind will come,(EG)
a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.
His water source will fail,
and his spring will run dry.(EH)
The wind[ah] will plunder the treasury(EI)
of every precious item.
16 [ai]Samaria(EJ) will bear her guilt(EK)
because she has rebelled against her God.(EL)
They will fall by the sword;(EM)
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,(EN)
and their pregnant women ripped open.(EO)
A Plea to Repent
14 Israel, return to Yahweh your God,(EP)
for you have stumbled in your sin.(EQ)
2 Take words of repentance with you(ER)
and return to the Lord.
Say to Him: “Forgive all our sin
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay You
with praise[aj] from our[ak] lips.(ES)
3 Assyria will not save us,(ET)
we will not ride on horses,(EU)
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’(EV)
to the work of our hands.(EW)
For the fatherless receives compassion in You.”(EX)
A Promise of Restoration
4 I will heal their apostasy;(EY)
I will freely love them,(EZ)
for My anger will have turned from him.(FA)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;(FB)
he will blossom like the lily(FC)
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.(FD)
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,(FE)
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.(FF)
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade.(FG)
They will grow grain(FH)
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Greeting
Jude,(A) a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:
To those who are the called,(B) loved[a](C) by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.(D)
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.(E)
Jude’s Purpose in Writing
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share,(F) I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith(G) that was delivered(H) to the saints once for all. 4 For some men, who were designated for this judgment long ago,(I) have come in by stealth;(J) they are ungodly,(K) turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying(L) Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
Apostates: Past and Present
5 Now I want to remind you, though you know all these things: The Lord[b] first[c] saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;(M) 6 and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels(N) who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah(O) and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions,[d] just as angels did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.(P)
8 Nevertheless, these dreamers likewise defile their flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme glorious ones.(Q) 9 Yet Michael(R) the archangel,(S) when he was disputing with the Devil(T) in a debate about Moses’(U) body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people blaspheme anything they don’t understand. What they know by instinct like unreasoning animals—they destroy themselves with these things. 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain,(V) have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam(W) for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.(X)
The Apostates’ Doom
12 These are the ones who are like dangerous reefs[e] at your love feasts.(Y) They feast with you, nurturing only themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds;(Z) trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots; 13 wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars(AA) for whom the blackness of darkness(AB) is reserved forever!(AC)
14 And Enoch,(AD) in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about them:
Look! The Lord comes[f]
with thousands of His holy ones(AE)
15 to execute judgment on all
and to convict them[g]
of all their ungodly(AF) acts
that they have done in an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things ungodly sinners
have said against Him.
16 These people are discontented grumblers, walking according to their desires;(AG) their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering(AH) people for their own advantage.
17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 they told you, “In the end time(AI) there will be scoffers(AJ) walking according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions and are unbelievers,[h](AK) not having the Spirit.
Exhortation and Benediction
20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit,(AL) 21 keep yourselves in the love of God,(AM) expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire;(AN) have mercy on others but with fear,(AO) hating(AP) even the garment(AQ) defiled by the flesh.
24 Now to Him(AR) who is able to protect you from stumbling(AS) and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless(AT) and with great joy, 25 to the only(AU) God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,[i] be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time,[j] now and forever. Amen.
Psalm 127
The Blessing of the Lord
A Solomonic song of ascents.
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