Old/New Testament
The Sadness of Exile
9 Israel, don’t celebrate like the nations do. Don’t be happy. You acted like a prostitute and left your God. You committed your sexual sin[a] on every threshing floor. 2 But the grain from those threshing floors will not provide enough food for Israel. There will not be enough wine for Israel.
3 The Israelites will not stay in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt. In Assyria they will eat food that they should not eat. 4 They will not be able to give offerings of wine to the Lord. None of their sacrifices will please him. What they offer will be like food eaten at a funeral—whoever eats it will become unclean. They can eat that food for their own hunger, but it cannot be taken into the Lord’s Temple. 5 They will not be able to celebrate the Lord’s feasts or festivals.[b]
6 The people of Israel left because the enemy took everything from them. But Egypt will take the people themselves. Memphis[c] will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures, and thorns will grow where the Israelites lived.
Israel Rejected the True Prophets
7 The prophet says, “Israel, learn this: The time of punishment has come. The time has come for you to pay for the evil things you did.” But the people of Israel say, “The prophet is a fool. This man with God’s Spirit is crazy.” The prophet says, “You will be punished for your terrible sins. You will be punished for your hate.” 8 God and the prophet are like guards watching over Ephraim, but there are many traps along his way. And people hate the prophet, even in the house of his God.
9 The Israelites have gone deep into ruin as in the time of Gibeah. God will remember the Israelites’ sins, and he will punish them.
Israel Is Ruined by Its Worship of Idols
10 “At the time I, the Lord, found Israel, they were like fresh grapes in the desert. They were like the first figs on a fig tree at the beginning of the season. But when they came to Baal Peor,[d] they changed. So I had to cut them off like rotten fruit.[e] They became like the terrible things that they loved.
The Israelites Will Have No Children
11 “Like a bird, Ephraim’s glory will fly away. There will be no more pregnancies, no more births, and no more babies. 12 But even if the Israelites do raise their children, it will not help, because I will take the children away from them. I will leave them, and they will have nothing but troubles.”
13 I can see that Ephraim is leading his children into a trap. Ephraim will lead his children out to the killer. 14 Lord, give them what you will. Give them a womb that loses babies and breasts that cannot give milk.
15 All their evil is in Gilgal;
I began hating them there.
I will force them to leave my house
because of the evil things they do.
I will not love them anymore.
Their leaders are rebels who turned against me.
16 Ephraim will be punished.
Their root is dying.
They will not have any more babies.
They might give birth to babies,
but I will kill the precious babies who come from their bodies.
17 Those people will not listen to my God,
so he will refuse to listen to them.
And they will wander among the nations without a home.
Israel’s Riches Led to Its Worship of Idols
10 Israel is like a vine
that grows plenty of fruit.
But as Israel got more and more things,
he built more and more altars to honor false gods.
His land became better and better,
so he put up better and better stones to honor false gods.
2 The people of Israel tried to trick God,
but now they must accept their guilt.
He will break down their altars
and destroy their memorial stones.
The Evil Decisions of the Israelites
3 Now the Israelites say, “We have no king. We don’t honor the Lord. And his king cannot do anything to us.”
4 They make promises, but they are only telling lies. They don’t keep their promises. They make agreements with other countries. God does not like those agreements. The judges are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.
5 The people from Samaria worship the calves at Beth Aven.[f] They will cry. The priests will cry, because their beautiful idol is gone. It was carried away. 6 It was carried away as a gift to the great king of Assyria. He will keep Ephraim’s shameful idol. Israel will be ashamed of its idol.[g] 7 Samaria’s false god[h] will be destroyed. It will be like a piece of wood floating away on the water’s surface.
8 Israel sinned and built many high places. The high places of Aven[i] will be destroyed. Thorns and weeds will grow on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
Israel Will Pay for Sin
9 “Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah. (And the people have continued to sin there.) Those evil people at Gibeah will be trapped by war. 10 I will come to punish them. Armies will come together against them and punish the Israelites for both of their sins.[j]
11 “Ephraim is like a trained young cow that loves to walk on grain on the threshing floor. I will put a good yoke on her neck. I will put the ropes on Ephraim. Then Judah will begin plowing. Jacob will break the ground himself.”
12 If you plant goodness, you will harvest faithful love. Plow your ground, and you will harvest with the Lord. He will come, and he will make goodness fall on you like rain.
13 But you planted evil, and you harvested trouble. You ate the fruit of your lies, because you had trusted in your power and your soldiers. 14 So your armies will hear the noise of battle, and all your fortresses will be destroyed. It will be like the time Shalman[k] destroyed Beth Arbel. At that time of war, mothers were killed with their children. 15 And this will happen to you at Bethel, because you did so many evil things. When that day begins, the king of Israel will be fully destroyed.
Israel Has Forgotten the Lord
11 The Lord said, “I loved Israel when he was a child,
and I called my son out of Egypt.
2 But the more I[l] called the Israelites,
the more they left me.
The Israelites gave sacrifices to the false gods[m]
and burned incense to the idols.
3 “But I was the one who taught Ephraim to walk.
I took the Israelites in my arms.
I healed them,
but they don’t know that.
4 I led them with ropes,[n]
but they were ropes of love.
I was like a person who set them free.[o]
I bent down and fed them.
5 “The Israelites will not go back to Egypt. The king of Assyria will become their king, because they refused to turn back to God. 6 The sword will swing against their cities and kill their strong men. It will destroy their leaders.
7 “My people expect me to come back. They will call to God above, but he will not help them.”[p]
The Lord Will Not Destroy Israel
8 “Ephraim, I don’t want to give you up.
Israel, I want to protect you.
I don’t want to make you like Admah.
I don’t want to make you like Zeboiim.[q]
I am changing my mind.
My love for you is too strong.
9 I will not let my terrible anger win.
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
I am God and not a human.
I am the Holy One.
I am with you.
I will not show my anger.
10 I, the Lord, will roar like a lion,
and my children will come and follow me.
They will come from the west,
shaking with fear.
11 They will come from Egypt,
shaking like birds.
They will come shaking like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will take them back home.”
This is what the Lord said.
12 “Ephraim surrounded me with false gods.
The people of Israel turned against me.[r]
But Judah still walks with God[s]
and is true to the Holy One.[t]”
Jesus’ Letter to the Church in Sardis
3 “Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis:
“Here is a message from the one who has the seven spirits and the seven stars.
“I know what you do. People say that you are alive, but really you are dead. 2 Wake up! Make yourselves stronger before what little strength you have left is completely gone. I find that what you do is not good enough for my God. 3 So don’t forget what you have received and heard. Obey it. Change your hearts and lives! You must wake up, or I will come to you and surprise you like a thief. You will not know when I will come.
4 “But you have a few people in your group there in Sardis who have kept themselves clean. They will walk with me. They will wear white clothes, because they are worthy. 5 Everyone who wins the victory will be dressed in white clothes like them. I will not remove their names from the book of life. I will say that they belong to me before my Father and before his angels. 6 Everyone who hears this should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus’ Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
7 “Write this to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:
“Here is a message from the one who is holy and true, the one who holds the key of David. When he opens something, it cannot be closed. And when he closes something, it cannot be opened.
8 “I know what you do. I have put before you an open door that no one can close. I know you are weak, but you have followed my teaching. You were not afraid to speak my name. 9 Listen! There is a group[a] that belongs to Satan. They say they are Jews, but they are liars. They are not true Jews. I will make them come before you and bow at your feet. They will know that you are the people I have loved. 10 You followed my command to endure patiently. So I will keep you from the time of trouble that will come to the world—a time that will test everyone living on earth.
11 “I am coming soon. Hold on to the faith you have, so that no one can take away your crown. 12 Those who win the victory will be pillars in the temple of my God. I will make that happen for them. They will never again have to leave God’s temple. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God. That city is the new Jerusalem.[b] It is coming down out of heaven from my God. I will also write my new name on them. 13 Everyone who hears this should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus’ Letter to the Church in Laodicea
14 “Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“Here is a message from the Amen,[c] the faithful and true witness, the ruler of all that God has made.
15 “I know what you do. You are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! 16 But you are only warm—not hot, not cold. So I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say you are rich. You think you have become wealthy and don’t need anything. But you don’t know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you to buy gold from me—gold made pure in fire. Then you will be rich. I tell you this: Buy clothes that are white. Then you will be able to cover your shameful nakedness. I also tell you to buy medicine to put on your eyes. Then you will be able to see.
19 “I correct and punish the people I love. So show that nothing is more important to you than living right. Change your hearts and lives. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you. And you will eat with me.
21 “I will let everyone who wins the victory sit with me on my throne. It was the same with me. I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Everyone who hears this should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International