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Chapter 6
1 “Come, let us return to the Lord,(A)
For it is he who has torn, but he will heal us;
he has struck down, but he will bind our wounds.
2 He will revive us after two days;
on the third day[a] he will raise us up,(B)
to live in his presence.
3 Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord;
as certain as the dawn is his coming.
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”(C)
4 What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your loyalty is like morning mist,
like the dew that disappears early.
5 For this reason I struck them down through the prophets,
I killed them by the words of my mouth;[b](D)
my judgment shines forth like the light.
6 For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(E)
Further Crimes of Israel
7 But they, at Adam,[c] violated the covenant;
there they betrayed me.
8 Gilead[d] is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 Like brigands lying in wait
is the band of priests.
They murder on the road to Shechem,[e]
indeed they commit a monstrous crime.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing:
there is found Ephraim’s prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, Judah,
a harvest[f] has been appointed!
Chapter 7
When I would have restored the fortunes of my people,
1 when I would have healed Israel,
The guilt of Ephraim was revealed,
the wickedness of Samaria:
They practiced falsehood.
Thieves break in,
bandits roam outside.
2 Yet they do not call to mind
that I remember all their wickedness.(F)
Now their crimes surround them,
present to my sight.(G)
Israel’s Domestic Politics[g]
3 With their wickedness they make the king rejoice,
the princes too, with their treacherous deeds.
4 They are all adulterers,[h]
like a blazing oven,
Which the baker quits stoking,
after the dough’s kneading until its rising.
5 On the day of our king,
they made the princes sick with poisoned wine;
he extended his hand to the scoffers.
6 For they draw near in ambush
with their hearts like an oven.
All the night their anger sleeps;
in the morning it flares like a blazing fire.
7 They are all heated like ovens,
and consume their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them calls upon me.
Israel’s Foreign Politics
8 Ephraim is mixed with the nations,[i]
Ephraim is an unturned cake.
9 Strangers have consumed his strength,
but he does not know it;(H)
Gray hairs are strewn on his head,
but he takes no notice of it.
10 The arrogance of Israel bears witness against him;
yet they do not return to the Lord, their God,
nor seek him, despite all this.(I)
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and senseless;
They call upon Egypt,
they go to Assyria.
12 When they go I will spread my net around them,
like birds in the air I will bring them down.(J)
I will chastise them when I hear of their assembly.
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Ruin to them, for they have rebelled against me!
Though I wished to redeem them,
they spoke lies against me.
14 They have not cried to me from their hearts
when they wailed upon their beds;
For wheat and wine they lacerated themselves;[j]
they rebelled against me.
15 Though I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devised evil against me.
16 They have again become useless,
they have been like a treacherous bow.(K)
Their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongues;
thus they shall be mocked in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 8
Corruption of Cult, Domestic and Foreign Politics
1 Put the trumpet to your lips!(L)
One like an eagle[k] is over the house of the Lord!
Because they have violated my covenant,
and rebelled against my law,
2 They cry out to me,
“My God! We know you!”
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
the enemy[l] shall pursue him.
4 [m]They made kings, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold
they made idols for themselves,
to their own destruction.
5 He has rejected your calf,[n] Samaria!(M)
My wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be incapable of innocence
in Israel?
6 An artisan made it,
it is no god at all.(N)
The calf of Samaria
will be dashed to pieces.
7 When they sow the wind,
they will reap the whirlwind;(O)
The stalk of grain that forms no head
can yield no flour;
Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations,
like a useless vessel.
9 For they went up to Assyria—[o]
a wild ass off on its own—
Ephraim bargained for lovers.(P)
10 Even though they bargain with the nations,
I will now gather them[p] together;
They will soon succumb
under the burden of king and princes.
11 [q]When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,
they became altars for sinning.
12 Though I write for him my many instructions,
they are considered like a stranger’s.
13 They love sacrifice,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord is not pleased with them.(Q)
Now he will remember their guilt
and punish their sins;(R)
they shall return to Egypt.[r](S)
14 Israel has forgotten his maker(T)
and has built palaces.
Judah, too, has fortified many cities,
but I will send fire upon his cities,
to devour their strongholds.(U)
Chapter 9
From Days of Celebration to Days of Punishment
1 Do not rejoice, Israel,
do not exult like the nations!
For you have prostituted yourself, abandoning your God,
loving a prostitute’s fee
upon every threshing floor.[s]
2 Threshing floor and wine press will not nourish them,
the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not dwell in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
4 They will not pour libations of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices will not please him.
Their bread will be like mourners’ bread,[t](V)
that makes unclean all who eat of it;
Their food will be for their own appetites;
it cannot enter the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the festival day,
the day of the Lord’s feast?[u]
6 [v]When they flee from the devastation,
Egypt will gather them, Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will overgrow their silver treasures,
and thorns, their tents.
7 They have come, the days of punishment!
they have come, the days of recompense!
Let Israel know it!
“The prophet is a fool,(W)
the man of the spirit is mad!”
Because your iniquity is great,
great, too, is your hostility.
8 [w]The watchman of Ephraim, the people of my God, is the prophet;(X)
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
hostility in the house of his God.
9 They have sunk to the depths of corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah;[x](Y)
God will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
From Former Glory to a History of Corruption
10 Like grapes in the desert,
I found Israel;
Like the first fruits of the fig tree, its first to ripen,(Z)
I looked on your ancestors.
But when they came to Baal-peor[y](AA)
and consecrated themselves to the Shameful One,
they became as abhorrent as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim is like a bird:
their glory flies away—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(AB)
12 Even though they bring up their children,
I will make them childless, until no one is left.
Indeed, woe to them
when I turn away from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw, was a tree
planted in a meadow;
But now Ephraim will bring out
his children to the slaughterer!
14 Give them, Lord!
give them what?
Give them a miscarrying womb,
and dry breasts!(AC)
15 All their misfortune began in Gilgal;[z]
yes, there I rejected them.
Because of their wicked deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no longer;
all their princes are rebels.
16 [aa]Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up;(AD)
they will bear no fruit.(AE)
Were they to bear children,
I would slay the beloved of their womb.
17 My God will disown them
because they have not listened to him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.(AF)
1 [a]The Presbyter to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth.(A)
2 Beloved, I hope you are prospering in every respect and are in good health, just as your soul is prospering. 3 I rejoiced greatly when some of the brothers[b] came and testified to how truly you walk in the truth.(B) 4 Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.(C)
5 Beloved, you are faithful in all you do[c] for the brothers, especially for strangers;(D) 6 they have testified to your love before the church.(E) Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.[d] 7 For they have set out for the sake of the Name[e] and are accepting nothing from the pagans. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to dominate,[f] does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come,[g] I will draw attention to what he is doing, spreading evil nonsense about us. And not content with that, he will not receive the brothers, hindering those who wish to do so and expelling them from the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil[h] but imitate good. Whoever does what is good is of God; whoever does what is evil has never seen God.(F) 12 Demetrius[i] receives a good report from all, even from the truth itself. We give our testimonial as well, and you know our testimony is true.(G)
13 I have much to write to you, but I do not wish to write with pen and ink.(H) 14 Instead, I hope to see you soon, when we can talk face to face. 15 Peace be with you. The friends greet you; greet the friends[j] there each by name.(I)
Psalm 126[a]
The Reversal of Zion’s Fortunes
1 A song of ascents.
I
When the Lord restored the captives of Zion,(A)
we thought we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter;
our tongues sang for joy.(B)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord had done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
Oh, how happy we were!
4 Restore our captives, Lord,
like the dry stream beds of the Negeb.[b]
II
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with cries of joy.(C)
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying sacks of seed,
Will return with cries of joy,
carrying their bundled sheaves.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.