Old/New Testament
12 (11:12) “Efrayim surrounds me with lies
and the house of Isra’el with deceit.
Y’hudah still rules with God
and is faithful with holy ones.
2 (1) Efrayim is chasing the wind,
pursuing the wind from the east.
All day he piles up lies and desolation —
they make a covenant with Ashur,
while sending olive oil to Egypt.
3 (2) Adonai also has a grievance against Y’hudah;
he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways
and pay him back for his misdeeds.
4 (3) In the womb he took his brother by the heel;
in the strength of his manhood he fought with God.
5 (4) Yes, he fought with an angel and won;
he wept and pleaded with him.
Then at Beit-El he found him,
and there he would [later] speak with us —
6 (5) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot;
Adonai is his name!
7 (6) So you, return to your God;
hold fast to grace and justice;
and always put your hope in your God.
8 (7) “A huckster keeps false scales,
and he loves to cheat.
9 (8) Efrayim says, ‘I have gotten so rich!
I have made me a fortune!
And in all my profits no one will find
anything wrong or sinful.’
10 (9) “But I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt.
Again I will make you live in tents,
as in the days of the established festival.
11 (10) I have spoken to the prophets;
it was I who gave vision after vision;
through the prophets I gave examples
to show what it would all be like.
12 (11) Is Gil‘ad given to iniquity?
Yes, they have become worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice to bulls;
therefore their altars are like piles of stones
in a plowed field.”
13 (12) Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram.
There Isra’el slaved to win a wife;
for a wife he tended sheep.
14 (13) By a prophet Adonai brought Isra’el up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was protected.
15 (14) Efrayim has given bitter provocation,
so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him,
and his Lord will repay him for his insult.
13 “When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling;
he was a power in Isra’el.
But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al,
he died.
2 So now they keep adding sin to sin,
casting images from their silver;
idols they invent for themselves,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
‘Sacrifice to them,’ they say.
Men give kisses to calves!
3 Therefore they will be like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early,
like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor,
or like smoke that goes out the window.
4 Still, I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt;
and you don’t know any God but me
or, other than me, any Savior.
5 I knew you in the desert,
in a land of terrible drought.
6 When they were fed, they were satisfied;
when satisfied, they became proud.
Therefore they forgot me.
7 So now I have become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk by the road;
8 I will meet them like a bear
whose cubs have been taken away.
I will tear their hearts from their bodies.
I will devour them there like a lion,
like a wild animal ripping them up.
9 It is your destruction, Isra’el,
although your help is in me.
10 So now, where is your king,
to save you in all your cities?
Where are your judges, of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and leaders’?
11 I gave you a king in my anger;
and in my fury I took him away.
12 “Efrayim’s guilt has been wrapped up,
his sin is stored away.
13 The pain of being born will come to him;
but he is an unwise son.
The time has come; and he shouldn’t delay,
there at the mouth of the womb.
14 Should I ransom them from the power of Sh’ol?
Should I redeem them from death?
Where are your plagues, death;
where is your destruction, Sh’ol?
My eyes are closed to compassion.
15 For though he flourishes among the reeds,
an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai,
blowing up from the desert.
Then his water source will dry up,
then his spring will fail —
it will plunder his treasury,
removing every precious thing.”
14 (13:16) Shomron will bear her guilt,
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their little ones will be dashed to pieces
and their pregnant women ripped open.
2 (1) Return, Isra’el, to Adonai your God,
for your guilt has made you stumble.
3 (2) Take words with you, and return to Adonai;
say to him, “Forgive all guilt,
and accept what is good;
we will pay instead of bulls
[the offerings of] our lips.
4 (3) Ashur will not save us,
we will not ride on horses,
and we will no longer call
what we made with our hands our gods.
For it is only in you
that the fatherless can find mercy.”
5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them freely;
for my anger has turned from him.
6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;
he will blossom like a lily
and strike roots like the L’vanon.
7 (6) His branches will spread out,
his beauty be like an olive tree
and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;
they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be
like the wine of the L’vanon.
9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I
to do any more with idols?’
And I, I answer and affirm him;
I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,
and let the discerning know them.
For the ways of Adonai are straight,
And the righteous walk in them,
but in them sinners stumble.
4 After these things, I looked; and there before me was a door standing open in heaven; and the voice like a trumpet which I had heard speaking with me before said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Instantly I was in the Spirit, and there before me in heaven stood a throne, and on the throne Someone was sitting. 3 The One sitting there gleamed like diamonds and rubies, and a rainbow shining like emerald encircled the throne.
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing and wearing gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came forth lightnings, voices and thunderings; and before the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6 In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living beings covered with eyes in front and behind. 7 The first living being was like a lion, the second living being was like an ox, the third living being had a face that looked human, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle.[a] 8 Each of the four living beings had six wings[b] and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies[c]
the One who was, who is and who is coming!”
9 And whenever the living beings give glory, honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne, to the One who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and worship him. They throw their crowns in front of the throne and say,
11 “You are worthy, Adonai Eloheinu,
to have glory, honor and power,
because you created all things —
yes, because of your will they were created
and came into being!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.