Old/New Testament
Yet You Have Not Returned to Me
4 Hear this word, you cows of (A)Bashan who are on the (B)mountain of Samaria,
Who (C)oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
Who say to their [a]husbands, “Bring now, that we may (D)drink!”
2 Lord Yahweh has (E)sworn by His (F)holiness that,
“Behold, the days are coming upon you,
And [b]they will take you away with (G)meat hooks,
And the last of you with (H)fish hooks.
3 And you will (I)go out through breaches in the walls,
Each one straight before her,
And you [c]will be cast to Harmon,” declares Yahweh.
4 “Enter Bethel and transgress;
In Gilgal multiply transgression!
(J)Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days.
5 [d]And offer a (K)thank offering also from that which is leavened,
And call for (L)freewill offerings; cause them to be heard about.
For so you (M)love to do, you sons of Israel,”
Declares Lord Yahweh.
6 “But I gave you also (N)cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
7 “And I also (P)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
And on (Q)another city I would not send rain;
One portion would be rained on,
While the portion not rained on would dry up.
8 So two or three cities would wander around to another city to drink (R)water,
But would (S)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (T)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
9 “I (U)struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
And the (V)gnawing locust was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees;
Yet you have (W)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
10 “I sent a (X)pestilence among you after the manner of Egypt;
I (Y)killed your choice men by the sword along with your (Z)captured horses,
And I made the (AA)stench of your camp rise up even in your nostrils;
Yet you have (AB)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
11 “I overthrew you as (AC)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (AD)firebrand [e]delivered from a blaze;
Yet you have (AE)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (AF)meet your God, O Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (AG)forms mountains and (AH)creates the wind
And (AI)declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who (AJ)makes dawn into gloom
And (AK)treads on the high places of the earth,
(AL)Yahweh God of hosts is His name.
Seek Me That You May Live
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral (AM)lament, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen; she will (AN)not rise again—
The (AO)virgin Israel.
She lies abandoned on her land;
There is (AP)none to raise her up.
3 For thus says Lord Yahweh,
“The city which goes forth one thousand strong
Will have one (AQ)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth one hundred strong
Will have (AR)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel,
“(AS)Seek Me (AT)that you may live.
5 But do not seek (AU)Bethel,
And do not come to (AV)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (AW)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into [f]exile,
And Bethel will become [g]evil.
6 (AX)Seek Yahweh that you may live,
Lest He come mightily like a (AY)fire, [h]O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who overturn (AZ)justice into wormwood
And put righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the (BA)Pleiades and Orion
And (BB)overturns the shadow of death into morning,
[i]Who also (BC)darkens day into night,
Who (BD)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
(BE)Yahweh is His name.
9 It is He who (BF)flashes forth with devastation upon the strong
So that (BG)devastation comes upon the fortification.
10 They hate him who (BH)reproves in the [j]gate,
And they (BI)abhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you [k]impose heavy rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (BJ)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted desirable vineyards, yet you will (BK)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are mighty,
You who (BL)distress the righteous and take bribes
And [l]turn aside the needy in the [m]gate.
13 Therefore at [n]such a time the one with insight (BM)keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, in order that you may live;
And thus may Yahweh God of hosts be with you,
(BN)Just as you have said!
15 (BO)Hate evil, love good,
And set justice at the [o]gate!
Perhaps Yahweh God of hosts
(BP)May be gracious to the (BQ)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is (BR)wailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the (BS)farmer to mourning
And [p](BT)professional weepers to wailing.
17 And in all the (BU)vineyards there is wailing
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says Yahweh.
18 Woe, you who are longing for the (BV)day of Yahweh,
For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you?
It will be (BW)darkness and not light;
19 As when a man (BX)flees from a lion
And a bear meets him;
[q]Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of Yahweh be (BY)darkness instead of light,
Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I (BZ)reject your feasts,
Nor do I [r](CA)delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you (CB)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the (CC)peace offerings of your fatlings.
23 Remove from Me the tumult of your songs;
I will not even listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let (CD)justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “[s](CE)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 (CF)You also carried along [t]Sikkuth your king and [u]Kiyyun, your images, [v]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
6 (CG)Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,
The (CH)distinguished men of the first of the nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Pass on over to (CI)Calneh and look,
And go from there to (CJ)Hamath the great,
Then go down to (CK)Gath of the Philistines.
Are [w]they better than these kingdoms,
Or are their borders greater than your borders?
3 Do you (CL)put off the day of calamity,
And would you (CM)cause the seat of violence to approach?
4 Those who lay down on beds of ivory
And sprawl on their (CN)couches
And (CO)eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,
5 Who improvise to the [x]sound of the harp,
And like David have [y]composed (CP)songs for themselves,
6 Who (CQ)drink wine from [z]sacrificial bowls
While they anoint themselves with the first pick of the oils,
Yet they have not (CR)grieved over the destruction of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now (CS)go into exile among the first of the exiles,
And the (CT)sprawlers’ [aa]banqueting will turn aside.
8 Lord Yahweh has (CU)sworn by Himself, Yahweh God of hosts has declared:
“I (CV)abhor the lofty pride of Jacob
And hate his (CW)citadels;
Therefore I will (CX)deliver up the city as well as its fullness.”
9 And it will be, if (CY)ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one’s [ab]uncle, or the one who [ac](CZ)burns his bones, will lift him up to bring out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will [ad]answer, “(DA)Keep quiet. For [ae]the name of Yahweh is (DB)not to be mentioned.” 11 For behold, Yahweh is going to (DC)command and will strike the (DD)great house to pieces and the small house to fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one plow [af]them with oxen?
Yet you have overturned (DE)justice into gall
And the fruit of righteousness into [ag]wormwood,
13 You who are glad in [ah](DF)Lo-debar
[ai]And say, “Have we not (DG)by our own strength taken [aj]Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (DH)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh God of hosts,
“And they will press down on you from [ak](DI)Lebo-hamath
To the (DJ)brook of the Arabah.”
The 144,000
7 After this I saw (A)four angels standing at the (B)four corners of the earth, holding back (C)the four winds of the earth, (D)so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending (E)from the rising of the sun, having the (F)seal of (G)the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the (H)four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “(I)Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have (J)sealed the slaves of our God on their (K)foreheads.”
4 And I heard the (L)number of those having been sealed, (M)144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 having been sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 having been sealed.
A Multitude from Every Nation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great [a]multitude which no one could count, from (N)every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing (O)before the throne and (P)before the Lamb, clothed in (Q)white robes, and (R)palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“(S)Salvation belongs to our God (T)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing (U)around the throne and (V)the elders and the (W)four living creatures, and they (X)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“(Y)Amen, (Z)the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. (AA)Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders (AB)answered, saying to me, “These, clothed in the (AC)white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” 14 And I [b]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the (AD)great tribulation, and they (AE)washed their robes and made them (AF)white in the (AG)blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are (AH)before the throne of God; and they (AI)serve Him day and night in His [c](AJ)sanctuary; and (AK)He who sits on the throne will [d](AL)dwell over them. 16 (AM)They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun [e]beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will (AN)shepherd them and will guide them to springs of the [f](AO)water of life. And (AP)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
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