Old/New Testament
12 Ephraim feeds on wind
and chases the east wind all day.
He multiplies lies and violence.
They make a treaty with Assyria,
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.
2 The Lord has a case against Judah.
He will deal with Jacob according to his ways.
According to his deeds he will repay him.
3 In the womb Jacob grasped his brother by the heel,
and when he was a grown man, he struggled with God.
4 He wrestled with the Angel and prevailed.
He wept and sought his favor.
He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him,[a]
5 namely, with the Lord, the God of Armies.
The Lord is the name by which he is to be remembered!
6 So return to your God.
Observe mercy and justice,
and wait for your God continually.
7 A merchant has fraudulent scales in his hand.
He loves to defraud others.
8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich.
I have secured wealth for myself.
Among all my possessions no one will find anything that makes me guilty of sin.”
9 But I have been the Lord your God from the time you left the land of Egypt.
I will make you dwell in tents again,
as in the days of the appointed festival.[b]
10 I have spoken to the prophets.
I have given numerous visions.
I taught meaningful lessons through the prophets.
11 Since Gilead is wicked,
it is certain that they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
Yes, their altars are like piles of stones in the furrows of a field.
12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.
Israel worked as a servant to get a wife,
and for a wife, he took care of sheep.
13 By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet he took care of Israel.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger.
Therefore his Lord will leave him bloodied by his guilt
and bring his disgrace back on him.
Repentance or Disaster?
13 When Ephraim spoke, people would tremble.
He was highly honored in Israel,
but he became guilty through worshipping Baal, so he died.
2 Now they sin more and more.
They make cast images for themselves,
idols skillfully made from their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said about them, “The ones who sacrifice are humans who kiss calves!”[c]
3 Therefore they will be like morning mist,
and like early dew that passes away,
like chaff that is blown away from the threshing floor,
and like smoke from a chimney.
4 But I have been the Lord your God since you left the land of Egypt.
You must not acknowledge any god except me.
There is no Savior except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
in a land burned by drought.
6 When they had pasture, they were satisfied.
When they were satisfied, their hearts became arrogant.
That is why they have forgotten me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them.
Like a leopard, I will lurk along the path.
8 I will come upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs.
I will tear the cover off their hearts.
Then I will devour them like a lioness.
The wild animals will rip them apart.
9 This is what has destroyed you, Israel:
the fact that you are against me, against your helper.[d]
10 So where is your king, so that he may save you in all your cities,
and your judges, whom you requested, saying, “Give me a king and officials”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up.
His sin is stored up.
13 Labor pains will come for him,
but he is not a wise son,
for when the time arrives,
he is not ready to be born.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave![e]
I will redeem them from death!
Death, where are your plagues?
Grave, where is your destruction?
Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he flourishes as a son among brothers,[f]
an east wind will come.
The breath[g] of the Lord is coming up from the wilderness.
His spring will become dry.
His fountain will be dried up.
His treasury will be plundered of every precious article.
16 Samaria will be found guilty,
because she rebelled against her God.
The people will fall by the sword.
Their little children will be dashed to the ground,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.[h]
Return to the Lord!
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your guilt.
2 Take words with you[i] and return to the Lord.
Say to him, “Forgive all our guilt,
and receive us graciously,
and let us present the fruit of our lips as bulls.[j]
3 Assyria cannot save us.
We will not ride on horses.
We will no longer call the work of our hands our gods!
For in you the fatherless child finds compassion.”
4 I will cure them of their unfaithfulness.
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be refreshing like dew to Israel.
It will blossom like a lily.
It will take root like a cedar of Lebanon.
6 Its young shoots will sprout.
Its beauty will be like an olive tree.
Its fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 Those who live in Israel’s shade will once again grow grain.
They will blossom like a grape vine.
Its fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, how much more do I have to put up with from idols?
I am the one who has answered, and I look after him.
I am like a fresh fir tree.
Your fruit comes from me.
9 Who is wise? Let him understand these things.
Who is discerning? Let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
John’s Vision of God
4 After these things I looked, and there was a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in spirit. And look! A throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. 3 The one who was sitting there looked like a jasper stone and a ruby.[a] Around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.
4 Also around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on those thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white garments, with gold crowns on their heads. 5 Out of the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. In front of the throne seven flaming lamps were burning, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, which was like crystal.
In the middle, near the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and the wings were full of eyes all around and underneath.[b] Day and night, without pause, they keep saying:
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
who was and who is and who is coming.
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and lay down their crowns in front of his throne as they say:
11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive the glory and the honor and the power,
for you have created all things,
and because of your will they existed and were created.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.