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Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return(A) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(B)
but he will heal us;(C)
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.(D)
2 After two days he will revive us;(E)
on the third day(F) he will restore(G) us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(H)
like the spring rains that water the earth.(I)”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?(J)
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.(K)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth(L)—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[a](M)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(N)
and acknowledgment(O) of God rather than burnt offerings.(P)
7 As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;(Q)
they were unfaithful(R) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(S)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(T)
so do bands of priests;
they murder(U) on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.(V)
10 I have seen a horrible(W) thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.(X)
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest(Y) is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(Z) of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(AA)
They practice deceit,(AB)
thieves break into houses,(AC)
bandits rob in the streets;(AD)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(AE) all their evil deeds.(AF)
Their sins engulf them;(AG)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(AH)
4 They are all adulterers,(AI)
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,(AJ)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(AK)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(AL)
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(AM)
and none of them calls(AN) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(AO) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(AP)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(AQ)
but despite all this
he does not return(AR) to the Lord his God
or search(AS) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(AT)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(AU)
now turning to Assyria.(AV)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(AW) over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe(AX) to them,
because they have strayed(AY) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(AZ) falsely.(BA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(BB)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[c] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(BC)
but they turn away from me.(BD)
15 I trained(BE) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(BF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(BG)
they are like a faulty bow.(BH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(BI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(BJ)
in the land of Egypt.(BK)
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(BL) to your lips!
An eagle(BM) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(BN)
and rebelled against my law.(BO)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(BP)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(BQ)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(BR) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(BS)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(BT)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(BU)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(BV) of Samaria.(BW)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(BX)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(BY)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(BZ)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(CA)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(CB)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(CC)
like a wild donkey(CD) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(CE)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(CF)
They will begin to waste away(CG)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(CH)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(CI)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(CJ) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(CK)
Now he will remember(CL) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(CM)
They will return to Egypt.(CN)
14 Israel has forgotten(CO) their Maker(CP)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(CQ)
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant(CR) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(CS) to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute(CT)
at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(CU) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(CV) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(CW)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(CX)
4 They will not pour out wine offerings(CY) to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please(CZ) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(DA)
all who eat them will be unclean.(DB)
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(DC)
5 What will you do(DD) on the day of your appointed festivals,(DE)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,(DF)
and Memphis(DG) will bury them.(DH)
Their treasures of silver(DI) will be taken over by briers,
and thorns(DJ) will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment(DK) are coming,
the days of reckoning(DL) are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(DM) are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(DN)
the inspired person a maniac.(DO)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,[d]
yet snares(DP) await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.(DQ)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,(DR)
as in the days of Gibeah.(DS)
God will remember(DT) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.(DU)
10 “When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruit(DV) on the fig(DW) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(DX)
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(DY)
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(DZ) will fly away like a bird(EA)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(EB)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(EC) them of every one.
Woe(ED) to them
when I turn away from them!(EE)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(EF) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(EG)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(EH)
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.(EI)
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(EJ)
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(EK)
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(EL)
all their leaders are rebellious.(EM)
16 Ephraim(EN) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(EO)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(EP) their cherished offspring.”
1 The elder,(A)
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers(B) came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.(C) 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children(D) are walking in the truth.(E)
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,[a](F) even though they are strangers to you.(G) 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way(H) in a manner that honors(I) God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name(J) that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.(K) 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come,(L) I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.(M) He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.(N)
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.(O) Anyone who does what is good is from God.(P) Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.(Q) 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone(R)—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.(S)
13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.(T)
15 Peace to you.(U) The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.(V)
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored(A) the fortunes of[a] Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.[b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,(B)
our tongues with songs of joy.(C)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things(D) for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things(E) for us,
and we are filled with joy.(F)
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