Old/New Testament

12 Israel is chasing the wind, yes, shepherding a whirlwind—a dangerous game!^[a] For she has given gifts to Egypt and Assyria to get their help, and in return she gets their worthless promises.

² But the Lord is bringing a lawsuit against Judah. Jacob will be justly punished for his ways. ³ When he was born, he struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. ⁴ Yes, he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. He met God there at Bethel face-to-face. God spoke to him— ⁵ the Lord, the God of heaven’s armies—Jehovah is his name.

⁶ Oh, come back to God. Live by the principles of love and justice, and always be expecting much from him, your God.

⁷ But no, my people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales—they love to cheat. ⁸ Ephraim boasts, “I am so rich! I have gotten it all by myself!” But riches can’t make up for sin.

⁹ “I am the same Lord, the same God, who delivered you from slavery in Egypt, and I am the one who will consign you to living in tents again, as you do each year at the Tabernacle Feast. ¹⁰ I sent my prophets to warn you with many a vision and many a parable and dream.”

¹¹ But the sins of Gilgal flourish just the same. Row on row of altars—like furrows in a field—are used for sacrifices to your idols. And Gilead, too, is full of fools^[b] who worship idols. ¹² Jacob fled to Syria and earned a wife by tending sheep. ¹³ Then the Lord led his people out of Egypt by a prophet, who guided and protected them. ¹⁴ But Ephraim has bitterly provoked the Lord. The Lord will sentence him to death as payment for his sins.

13 It used to be when Israel spoke, the nations shook with fear, for he was a mighty prince; but he worshiped Baal and sealed his doom.

² And now the people disobey more and more. They melt their silver to mold into idols, formed with skill by the hands of men. “Sacrifice to these!” they say—men kissing calves! ³ They shall disappear like morning mist, like dew that quickly dries away, like chaff blown by the wind, like a cloud of smoke.

⁴ “I alone am God, your Lord, and have been ever since I brought you out from Egypt. You have no God but me, for there is no other Savior. ⁵ I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. ⁶ But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot me. ⁷ So I will come upon you like a lion, or a leopard lurking along the road. ⁸ I will rip you to pieces like a bear whose cubs have been taken away, and like a lion I will devour you.

⁹ “O Israel, if I destroy you, who can save you? ¹⁰ Where is your king? Why don’t you call on him for help? Where are all the leaders of the land? You asked for them, now let them save you! ¹¹ I gave you kings in my anger, and I took them away^[c] in my wrath. ¹² Ephraim’s sins are harvested and stored away for punishment.

¹³ “New birth is offered him, but he is like a child resisting in the womb—how stubborn! how foolish! ¹⁴ Shall I ransom him from hell? Shall I redeem him from Death? O Death, bring forth your terrors for his tasting! O Grave, demonstrate your plagues! For I will not relent!

¹⁵ “He was called the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind—a wind of the Lord from the desert—will blow hard upon him and dry up his land. All his flowing springs and green oases will dry away, and he will die of thirst. ¹⁶ Samaria must bear her guilt, for she rebelled against her God. Her people will be killed by the invading army, her babies dashed to death against the ground, her pregnant women ripped open with a sword.”

14 O Israel, return to the Lord, your God, for you have been crushed by your sins. ² Bring your petition. Come to the Lord and say, “O Lord, take away our sins; be gracious to us and receive us, and we will offer you the sacrifice of praise. ³ Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle; never again will we call the idols we have made ‘our gods’; for in you alone, O Lord, the fatherless find mercy.”

⁴ “Then I will cure you of idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be forever gone! ⁵ I will refresh Israel like the dew from heaven; she will blossom as the lily and root deeply in the soil like cedars in Lebanon. ⁶ Her branches will spread out as beautiful as olive trees, fragrant as the forests of Lebanon. ⁷ Her people will return from exile far away and rest beneath my shadow. They will be a watered garden and blossom like grapes; they will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.

⁸ “O Ephraim! Stay away from idols! I am living and strong! I look after you and care for you. I am like an evergreen tree, yielding my fruit to you throughout the year. My mercies never fail.”

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is intelligent, let him listen. For the paths of the Lord are true and right, and good men walk along them. But sinners trying them will fail.

4 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before, which sounded like a mighty trumpet blast, spoke to me and said, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen in the future!”

² And instantly I was in spirit there in heaven and saw—oh, the glory of it!—a throne and someone sitting on it! ³ Great bursts of light flashed forth from him as from a glittering diamond or from a shining ruby, and a rainbow glowing like an emerald encircled his throne. ⁴ Twenty-four smaller thrones surrounded his, with twenty-four Elders sitting on them; all were clothed in white, with golden crowns upon their heads. ⁵ Lightning and thunder issued from the throne, and there were voices in the thunder. Directly in front of his throne were seven lighted lamps representing the sevenfold Spirit of God.^{[a] 6} Spread out before it was a shiny crystal sea. Four Living Beings, dotted front and back with eyes, stood at the throne’s four sides. ⁷ The first of these Living Beings was in the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had the face of a man; and the fourth, the form of an eagle, with wings spread out as though in flight. ⁸ Each of these Living Beings had six wings, and the central sections of their wings were covered with eyes. Day after day and night after night they kept on saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty—the one who was, and is, and is to come.”

⁹ And when the Living Beings gave glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four Elders fell down before him and worshiped him, the Eternal Living One, and cast their crowns before the throne, singing, ¹¹ “O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will.”