Old/New Testament
The Punishment of Israel
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel!
Do not exult[a] like the peoples,
for you have played the whore departing from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages
on every threshing floor.
2 The threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them,
and the new wine will fail in her.
3 They will not dwell in the land of the Lord;
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They will not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat of it will be defiled.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their own hunger;
it will not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the appointed day,
and on the day of the festival of the Lord?
6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver,
and thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is insane,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim is a prophet
for my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity,
He will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they went to Baal Peor
and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame,
and they became an abomination like the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird:
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
I will bereave them until none are left.
Woe to them indeed,
when I depart from them!
13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place,
so now Ephraim will bring out
his children for slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will You give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal,
for there I hated them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds,
I will drive them out of My house.
I will love them no more.
All their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will slay the beloved offspring of their womb.
17 My God will reject them
because they did not listen to Him,
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a fertile vine
that brings forth its fruit.
As his fruit multiplied,
so his altars increased;
as his land prospered,
so he[b] improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is divided;
now they must bear their guilt.
He will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say,
“We have no king,
because we do not fear the Lord;
and a king, what could he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
swearing falsely
in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up like a poisonous plant
in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear
because of the calf of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
and its priests shriek for it,
because its glory has departed from it.
6 It will be carried to Assyria
as a tribute to King Jareb.[c]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[d]
7 As for Samaria, her king will perish
like a twig on the water.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
will be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle will grow
on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, Cover us,
and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah.
There they have continued.[e]
Will not the war in Gibeah against evildoers
overtake them?
10 When I desire, I will punish them.
The nations will be gathered against them
when they are disciplined[f] for their two transgressions.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh grain,
but I harnessed her fair neck;
I will make Ephraim pull a plow.
Judah will plow;
Jacob shall furrow for himself.
12 Sow to yourselves righteousness,
reap mercy,
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until He comes
and rains righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed wickedness.
You have reaped iniquity,
and you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
and in the numbers of your warriors,
14 therefore a tumult will arise among your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed
as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle;
mothers were dashed to pieces upon their children.
15 So will it be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn
the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.
God’s Love for Israel
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.
2 As I[g] called them,
so they went from Me.[h]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and burned incense to idols.
3 I taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them up in My[i] arms,
but they did not know
that I healed them.
4 I drew them with cords of human kindness,[j]
with bands of love.
I was to them as those who ease the yoke on their neck,[k]
and I bent down and fed them.
5 He will return[l] to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be his king,
because they refused to return to Me.
6 The sword slashes in their cities,
consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent on backsliding from Me.
Though they called to the Most High,
none at all exalt Him.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboyim?
My heart churns within Me;
My compassion is stirred.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
who roars like a lion.
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling
like a bird out of Egypt
and like a dove from the land of Assyria.
And I will let them dwell in their houses,
says the Lord.
God’s Charge Against Ephraim
12 Ephraim has surrounded Me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
But Judah still walks with God,
and is faithful to the Holy One.[m]
The Message to Sardis
3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
“He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain but are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfected before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
4 “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not soiled their garments. They shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Message to Philadelphia
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
“He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens, says these things: 8 I know your works. Look! I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Listen! I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie. Listen! I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My word of patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the entire world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 “Look, I am coming quickly. Hold firmly what you have, so that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Message to Laodicea
14 “To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write:
“The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says these things: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich, and have stored up goods, and have need of nothing,’ yet do not realize that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be dressed, that the shame of your nakedness may not appear, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
21 “To him who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.