Old/New Testament
12 Ephraim's people chase after useless things all the time.
They think that they can catch the wind that comes from the east!
But the result is more violence and lies.
They make an agreement with Assyria to get their help.
They also send their olive oil to Egypt to ask for their help.[a]
2 The Lord is ready to accuse Judah's people in a court of law.
He will punish Jacob's descendants for the bad way that they live.
He will punish them as their sins deserve.
3 Before Jacob was born, he cheated his brother.
He did that when they were both inside their mother's body.[b]
When Jacob became a man, he fought against God.
4 He fought against an angel and he won.
He wept and he asked God to bless him.
There at Bethel, Jacob met with God. God spoke to him there.
5 This was the Lord God Almighty!
We know him as the Lord, his special name.
6 So now, you must return to your God.
You must show faithful love for each other.
You must judge people in a fair way.
You must be patient. Trust God to come and help you.
7 Your traders love to cheat people.
They use false weights and measures.
8 Ephraim's people proudly say,
‘We are rich! We have become very rich!
In all the ways that we have found riches,
nobody can accuse us.
We have not really done anything that is a sin!’
9 God says,
‘Remember that I am the Lord your God!
I brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
Now I will make you live in tents again,
as you did before, in the wilderness.
10 I gave my messages to the prophets.
I showed them many visions.[c]
I used stories for the prophets to teach the people about me.
11 The people in Gilead do wicked things.[d]
They will become as useless as their idols.
At Gilgal, the people offer bulls as sacrifices on their altars.
Those altars will be like heaps of stones in a farmer's field.’
12 Jacob ran away to the land of Aram.[e]
He worked there as a shepherd so that he could get a wife.
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
He used a prophet to keep them safe in the wilderness.
14 But Ephraim's people have made the Lord very angry.
He will punish them with death for their terrible sins.
Their Lord will pay them back as they deserve,
because they have insulted him.
The Lord is angry with Israel
13 In past times, when the leaders of Israel spoke, the people were afraid.[f]
The people respected their leaders.
But the people became guilty when they worshipped Baal.
Because of that, they died.
2 Now the Israelites continue to do more and more sins.
They use metal to make idols for themselves.
They use clever skills to make idols from silver.
All their idols are only things that people have made themselves.
People offer sacrifices to the image of a calf.
They say, ‘Kiss the calf!’
3 So those people will soon disappear!
They will quickly disappear like mist or dew in the morning.
They will be like chaff that the wind blows away from a threshing floor.
They will be like smoke that disappears out of an open window.[g]
4 The Lord says,
‘I am the Lord your God.
I brought you out from Egypt.
You must not serve any other God.
No one else can save you except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
where it was very hot and dry.
6 I gave food to my people, so that they were not hungry.
But when they had enough to eat, they became proud.
As a result, they forgot about me.[h]
7 So I will attack them like a lion.
I will be like a leopard that waits beside the road.
It is ready to catch anything that goes that way.
8 I will attack them like an angry bear that has lost her children.
I will tear them into pieces.
I will eat them like a hungry lion.
I will attack them and kill them, like a wild animal.
9 I will destroy you, Israel.
There will be nobody to help you.
10 What has happened to your king?
He cannot save you!
Where are your rulers?
You asked me to give you rulers like the other nations have.
You said, “Give us a king and rulers.”
11 I was angry, but I agreed to give you a king.
Now I am even more angry and I will take your king away!
12 I have a record of Ephraim's sin.
Ephraim's people will certainly receive their punishment.
13 They will be in pain like a woman who is giving birth.
Her child is foolish. He refuses to be born!
14 Will I save these people from the power of death?
Will I rescue them from their graves?
Death, what diseases can you bring?
What can you do to hurt my people?[i]
I will not be kind to my people and forgive them.’
15 Among the other nations, Israel has been successful.
It has been like a plant that grows well.
But now the Lord will send trouble.
It will be like a strong east wind that comes from the desert.
Israel's wells and springs of water will become dry.
All the valuable things that Israel has stored will disappear.
16 Samaria's people are guilty and they will receive their punishment.[j]
They have turned against their God.
They will die in war.
Cruel enemies will kill their young children.
Soldiers will cut open their pregnant women.
Return to the Lord!
14 Israel's people, return to the Lord your God!
Your sins have caused you to fall down.
2 Return to the Lord and pray to him! Say to him,
‘Please forgive all our sins.
Be kind to us as we come to you.
We will praise you with our mouths, as our sacrifice to you.
3 Assyria cannot save us.
The horses that we ride into war will not keep us safe.
We will never again say to the idols that we have made, “You are our gods.”
You are kind to children who have no family.
So please be kind to us.’
4 The Lord says,
‘My people turned away from me, but I will forgive them.
I will love them very much.
I will not be angry with them any more.
5 I will bless Israel's people, like rain that falls on dry ground.
They will grow like beautiful flowers.
They will have strong roots, like the great trees in Lebanon.
6 They will grow like a tree that makes new branches.
They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will have a sweet smell, like the forests in Lebanon.
7 I will give my people shade to live in safely.
They will plant crops that give them plenty of food.
They will be successful, like a vine that gives many grapes.
They will be famous, like the wine from Lebanon.[k]
8 People of Ephraim, do not let me see your idols any more!
I will answer your prayers. I will take care of you.
I am like a strong green tree.
All the good things that you have come from me.’
9 If you are wise, you should understand these things.
If you understand, think carefully about them.
The Lord teaches you to live in ways that are right.
Righteous people live in those good ways.
But people who turn against the Lord fall down and lose their way.[l]
God on his throne
4 After this, I looked. There in front of me was an open door in heaven. I heard the same voice that I had heard before. It spoke like the sound of a trumpet. It said to me, ‘Come up here. I will show you the things that must happen after this.’
2 Immediately God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear more things. I saw a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it. 3 The person who sat there shone with bright red and white light, like jewels called jasper and ruby. Around the throne there was a rainbow that shone with bright green light like an emerald jewel. 4 All around the throne there were 24 other thrones. 24 leaders were sitting on these thrones. They were wearing white clothes and they had gold crowns on their heads. 5 A storm with bright lightning came from the throne. There was the loud noise of thunder. In front of the throne there were seven lights of fire burning brightly. These lights are the seven spirits of God.[a] 6 Also in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass that shone with light.
In the middle, round the throne, there were four other beings that were alive. They had eyes all over them, on their fronts and on their backs. 7 The first of these beings was like a lion. The second being was like an ox. The third being had a face like a man's face. And the fourth being was like an eagle that was flying. 8 Each of these four beings had six wings. They had eyes all over them, even under their wings. All day and all night they never stop saying:
‘The Lord God has all power and authority.
He has no bad thing in him. He is completely good.
He has always been alive. He is alive now.
He will continue to be alive for ever.’
9 God sits on the throne and he is alive for ever. The four beings that are alive worship him and they thank him. 10 When they do this, the 24 leaders bend down to the ground. They also worship the Lord God, who sits on the throne and is alive for ever. They put their crowns in front of God's throne, and they praise him. They say:
11 ‘God, our Lord, you are very good!
Everyone should give you honour and say how great and powerful you are!
Everyone should worship you, because you created everything.
You decided to make them and so you made them!
That is why everything in the world is here.’
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