Old/New Testament
God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs
12 Ephraim chases[a] the wind(A)
and pursues the east wind.(B)
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria,(C)
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.(D)
2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct;(E)
he will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,(F)
and as an adult he wrestled with God.(G)
4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.(H)
He found him at Bethel,(I)
and there he spoke with him.[b](J)
5 The Lord is the God of Armies;
the Lord is his name.(K)
6 But you must return to your God.(L)
Maintain love and justice,(M)
and always put your hope in God.(N)
7 A merchant loves to extort(O)
with dishonest scales in his hands.(P)
8 But Ephraim thinks,
“How rich I have become;(Q)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any iniquity in me(R)
that I can be punished for!” [c]
Judgment on Apostate Israel
9 I have been the Lord your God
ever since[d] the land of Egypt.(S)
I will make you live in tents again,(T)
as in the festival days.
10 I will speak through the prophets(U)
and grant many visions;
I will give parables through the prophets.(V)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,(W)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;(X)
even their altars will be like piles of rocks(Y)
on the furrows of a field.
Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs
12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.(Z)
Israel worked to earn a wife;(AA)
he tended flocks for a wife.(AB)
13 The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,(AC)
and Israel was tended by a prophet.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,(AD)
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him(AE)
and repay him for his contempt.(AF)
13 When Ephraim spoke,(AG) there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.(AH)
But he incurred guilt through Baal(AI) and died.
2 Now they continue to sin
and make themselves a cast image,(AJ)
idols skillfully made from their silver,(AK)
all of them the work of craftsmen.(AL)
People say about them,
“Let the men who sacrifice[e] kiss the calves.”(AM)
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,(AN)
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,(AO)
or like smoke from a window.(AP)
Death and Resurrection
4 I have been the Lord your God(AQ)
ever since[f] the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,(AR)
and no Savior exists besides me.(AS)
5 I knew[g] you in the wilderness,(AT)
in the land of drought.
6 When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;(AU)
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.(AV)
Therefore they forgot me.(AW)
7 So I will be like a lion(AX) to them;
I will lurk like a leopard(AY) on the path.
8 I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,(AZ)
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
9 I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but me.[h](BA)
10 Where now is your king,[i](BB)
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the[j] rulers[k](BC) you demanded, saying,
“Give me a king and leaders”?
11 I give you a king in my anger(BD)
and take away a king in my wrath.(BE)
12 Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.(BF)
13 Labor pains come on him.(BG)
He is not a wise son;(BH)
when the time comes,
he will not be born.[l](BI)
14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem[m] them from death.(BJ)
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?(BK)
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(BL)
The Coming Judgment
15 Although he flourishes among his brothers,[n](BM)
an east wind will come,(BN)
a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.
His water source will fail,
and his spring will run dry.(BO)
The wind[o] will plunder the treasury(BP)
of every precious item.
16 Samaria(BQ) will bear her guilt(BR)
because she has rebelled against her God.(BS)
They will fall by the sword;(BT)
their children will be dashed to pieces,(BU)
and their pregnant women ripped open.(BV)
A Plea to Repent
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,(BW)
for you have stumbled in your iniquity.(BX)
2 Take words of repentance with you(BY)
and return to the Lord.
Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay you
with praise[p] from our[q] lips.(BZ)
3 Assyria will not save us,(CA)
we will not ride on horses,(CB)
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’ (CC)
to the work of our hands.(CD)
For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”(CE)
A Promise of Restoration
4 I will heal their apostasy;(CF)
I will freely love them,(CG)
for my anger will have turned from him.(CH)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;(CI)
he will blossom like the lily(CJ)
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.(CK)
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,(CL)
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.(CM)
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade.(CN)
They will grow grain(CO)
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
The Throne Room of Heaven
4 After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet(A) said, “Come up here,(B) and I will show you what must take place after this.”(C)
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit,(D) and there was a throne in heaven(E) and someone was seated on it. 3 The one seated[a] there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone.(F) A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.(G)
4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders(H) dressed in white clothes,(I) with golden crowns on their heads.(J)
5 Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne.(K) Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.(L) 6 Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.(M)
Four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side. 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.(N) 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings;(O) they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night(P) they never stop,[b] saying,
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.(Q)
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever,(R) 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne(S) and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.