Old/New Testament
12 Ephraim herds the wind[a]
and is pursuing the east wind all day long;
he multiplies deception and violence
and he[b] makes a treaty with Assyria,[c]
and oil is brought to Egypt.
2 Yahweh has a quarrel[d] with Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he deceived his brother,
and in his manhood he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he pleaded for his mercy.
He met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.[e]
5 Yahweh the God of hosts,
Yahweh is his renowned name!
6 But you, you must return to your God;
keep love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
7 The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;[f]
he loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich,
I gained[g] wealth for myself;
in all my toil they have not found guilt in me
that is sin.
9 But I am Yahweh your God
since[h] the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
like the days of the appointed festival.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
I myself multiplied revelations[i]
and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.
11 If in Gilead there is evil,
surely they will come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
also their altars will be like stone heaps
on furrows of the field.
12 Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,[j]
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he watched over sheep.
13 And by a prophet Yahweh brought
Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet
he[k] was watched over.
14 Ephraim has caused bitter provocation,
and his Lord will hold him responsible for his crimes[l]
and pay back to him his insults.
Yahweh’s Judgment on Idolatrous Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke,[m] there was terror;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2 And now they sin again,
and they make for themselves a molten idol,
idols from their silver metal according to their understanding,
all of them the work of skilled craftsmen.
To these they say, “Sacrifice!”
People are kissing bull calves.
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud,
and like the dew of early morning going away,
like chaff swirling from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
4 I am Yahweh your God
since[n] the land of Egypt;
you know no god except me,
and no one saves besides me.
5 I fed you[o] in the desert,
in the land of drought.
6 When I fed them,[p] they were satisfied;
they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
7 And I will be like a lion to them;
I lie in wait beside the way, like a leopard.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring,
and I will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
like an animal of the field would mutilate them.
9 I will destroy you,[q] O Israel;
who will help you?[r]
10 Where now is your king that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said, “Give to
me a king and rulers?”
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him in my wrath.
12 The sin of Ephraim is wrapped up;
his sin is concealed.
13 The labor pains of childbirth come for him;
he is an unwise son
because at the proper time, he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.[s]
14 Should I redeem them from the power[t] of Sheol? [u]
Should I deliver them from death?
Where are your plagues, O Death?
Where is your destruction, O Sheol?[v]
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among reeds,[w]
the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh
rising from the desert;
his fountain will dry up,
his spring will be parched.
It will plunder his treasury,[x]
every object of desire.
16 [y] Samaria will be guilty,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they will fall by the sword,
their children will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Return to Yahweh
14 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,
for you have stumbled because of your sin.
2 Take words with you,
and return to Yahweh.
Say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept good, and we will offer
the fruit[z] of our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us;
we will not ride on horses,[aa]
and we will say no more, “Our God,”
to the work of our hands
because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.
4 I will heal their disloyalty;[ab]
I will love them freely
because my anger has turned back
from them.[ac]
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily plant,
and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.
6 His new plant shoots will spread out;
his splendor will be like the olive tree,
and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.
7 They will again dwell[ad] in my[ae] shadow;
they will grow grain
and they will blossom like the plant vine;
his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do[af] with idols?
I myself have answered and looked after you.[ag]
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
your fruit[ah] comes from me.
9 Who is wise that he can understand these things?
Who is discerning that he knows them?
The ways of Yahweh are right,
and the righteous walk in them;
but transgressors stumble in them.
The Heavenly Throne
4 After these things I looked, and behold, an open door in heaven, and the former voice that I had heard like a trumpet speaking with me was saying, “Come up here and I will show you the things which must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one was seated on the throne. 3 And the one seated was similar in appearance to jasper and carnelian stone, and a rainbow was around the throne similar in appearance to emerald. 4 And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, and on their heads were gold crowns. 5 And from the throne came out lightnings and sounds and thunders, and seven torches of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal, and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 And the first living creature was similar to a lion, and the second living creature was similar to an ox, and the third living creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth living creature was similar to an eagle flying. 8 And the four living creatures, each one[a] of them, had six wings apiece, full of eyes around and inside, and they do not have rest day and night, saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God All-Powerful,[b]
the one who was and the one who is and the one who is coming!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever[c], 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever[d], and put down their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
because you have created all things,
and because of your will they existed and were created.”
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