The Daily Audio Bible
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6 “Come, let’s return to the Lord;
for it is he who has injured us and will heal us;
he has struck us down, but he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
so that we may live before him.
3 Let’s know, let’s press on to know the Lord;
whose appearing is as certain as the dawn;
who will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that give drink to the earth.”
Infidelity and divine retribution
4 Ephraim, what will I do with you?
Judah, what will I do with you?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that vanishes quickly.
5 Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth like a light.
6 I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.
7 But like Adam[a] they broke the covenant;
then they acted in bad faith against me.
8 Gilead is a city of wicked people,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for someone,
so the priests are in league with each other;
they murder on the road to Shechem;
they have done evil things.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible;
Ephraim acts like a prostitute; Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed,
when I would improve the circumstances of my people.
7 When I would heal Israel,
the evil acts of Ephraim are exposed,
and the wicked deeds of Samaria;
for they deceive and steal,
a thief breaks in;
a group of bandits raid outside.
2 But they don’t consider within their hearts
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds show who they are,
right in front of my face.
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and give joy to the officials with their lies.
4 They all act like adulterers;
they are like a heated oven,
whose baker doesn’t need to stoke the fire,
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king,
the officials became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand to those who mocked him.
6 They approach like a hot oven, their hearts burning.
Throughout the night, their anger smolders;
in the morning, it continues to burn like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them call upon me.
8 Ephraim mixes himself among the people;
Ephraim is like flatbread that is cooked on only one side.
9 Strangers have eaten up his strength,
yet he doesn’t know it;
gray hairs are sprinkled here and there upon him,
yet he doesn’t know it.
10 Israel’s pride is a witness against him;
yet they don’t return to the Lord their God,
or seek him because of all this.
Foolishness and God’s wrath
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without common sense;
they call upon Egypt; they go to Assyria.
12 As they go, I will spread my net over them;
like birds in the sky, I will bring them down;
I will judge them according to the report made to their assembly.
13 Doom to them, for they have strayed from me;
destruction will be their lot because they have rebelled against me.
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14 They don’t cry to me from the heart,
but they sob upon their beds;
they fight[b] over grain and wine;
they resist me.
15 It was I who gave them their strength,
yet they plot evil against me.
16 They return, but not to the Most High;[c]
they have become like a worthless bow;
their officials will fall by the sword
because of the rage of their tongues;
in Egypt they will make fun of them.[d]
Divine proclamation about Israel’s idolatry
8 Put a trumpet to your lips!
It’s as if a bird of prey has flown over the Lord’s house,
because they have broken my covenant,
and have not kept my Instruction.
2 Israel cries to me,
“My God, we know you!”
3 Israel has turned away from the good;
the enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings, but not through me;
they chose princes, but without my knowledge.
With silver and gold they crafted idols
for their own destruction.
5 Your calf is rejected, Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they remain guilty?
6 The calf is from Israel,
a person made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria will be smashed.
7 Because they sow the wind,
they will get the whirlwind.
Standing grain, but no fresh growth;
it will yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.
Bargains, apostasy, and coming punishment
8 Israel is swallowed up;
among the nations, they are now
like a useless jar.
9 They have gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they have bargained with the nations,
I will now gather them up.
They will soon be diminished
due to the burden of kings and princes.
11 When Ephraim added more altars to take away sin,
they became altars to him for sinning.
12 Even though I write out for him a large number of my instructions,
they are regarded as strange.
13 Though they offer choice sacrifices,[e]
though they eat flesh,
the Lord doesn’t accept them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins;
they will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his maker,
and built palaces;
and Judah has multiplied walled cities;
but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it will devour his fortresses.
Arrival of divine judgment
9 Don’t rejoice, Israel!
Don’t celebrate as other nations do;
for as whores you have gone away from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s pay
on all threshing floors of grain.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat won’t feed them;
the new wine will fail them.
3 They won’t remain in the land of the Lord;
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
4 They won’t pour wine as an offering to the Lord;
their sacrifices won’t please him.
Such sacrifices will be like food for those who touch the dead;
all who eat of it will be unclean;
their bread will be for their hunger alone;
it will not come to the Lord’s house.
5 What will you do on the day of appointed festival,
on the day of the Lord’s festival?
6 Even if they escape destruction,
Egypt will gather them,
Memphis will bury them.
Briars will possess their precious things of silver;[f]
thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of judgment have arrived;
Israel cries,
“The prophet is a fool,
the spiritual man is mad!”
Because of your great wickedness,
your rejection of me is great.
Tragic consequences
8 The prophet is God’s watchman
looking over Ephraim,
yet a hunter’s trap is set, covering all his ways,
and rejection is in his God’s house.
9 They have corrupted themselves terribly
as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their wickedness;
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
In its first season,
like the first fruit on the fig tree,
I saw your ancestors.
But they came to Baal-peor,
and worshipped a thing of shame;
they became detestable like the thing they loved.[g]
11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up children,
I will make them childless
until no one is left.
Doom to them indeed when I leave them!
13 When I looked toward Tyre,
Ephraim was planted in a lovely meadow;
but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them a womb that miscarries
and breasts that are dried up.
15 Every wickedness of theirs began at Gilgal;
there I came to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their officials are rebels.
16 Ephraim is sick,
their root is dried up,
they will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will put to death their much-loved little ones.
17 Because they haven’t listened to him,
my God will reject them;
they will wander among the nations.
Greeting
1 From the elder.
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love.
2 Dear friend, I’m praying that all is well with you and that you enjoy good health in the same way that you prosper spiritually.
Encouragement for Gaius
3 I was overjoyed when the brothers and sisters arrived and spoke highly of your faithfulness to the truth, shown by how you live according to the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth. 5 Dear friend, you act faithfully in whatever you do for our brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers. 6 They spoke highly of your love in front of the church. You all would do well to provide for their journey in a way that honors God, 7 because they left on their journey for the sake of Jesus Christ without accepting any support from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore, we ought to help people like this so that we can be coworkers with the truth.
Criticism of Diotrephes
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, doesn’t welcome us. 10 Because of this, if I come, I will bring up what he has done—making unjustified and wicked accusations against us. And as if that were not enough, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers and sisters but stops those who want to do so and even throws them out of the church! 11 Dear friend, don’t imitate what is bad but what is good. Whoever practices what is good belongs to God. Whoever practices what is bad has not seen God.
Approval of Demetrius
12 Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, even the truth itself. We also speak highly of him, and you know that what we say is true.
Final greeting
13 I have a lot to say to you, but I don’t want to use pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face-to-face.
15 Peace be with you. Your friends here greet you. Greet our friends there by name.
Psalm 126
A pilgrimage song.
126 When the Lord changed Zion’s circumstances for the better,
it was like we had been dreaming.
2 Our mouths were suddenly filled with laughter;
our tongues were filled with joyful shouts.
It was even said, at that time, among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them!”
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us,
and we are overjoyed.
4 Lord, change our circumstances for the better,
like dry streams in the desert waste!
5 Let those who plant with tears
reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
6 Let those who go out,
crying and carrying their seed,
come home with joyful shouts,
carrying bales of grain!
12 If a ruler listens to lies,
those who serve him will be wicked.
13 The poor and their oppressors have a common bond—
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
14 If a king judges the poor honestly,
his throne will be established forever.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible