Old/New Testament
12 E′phraim herds the wind,
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a bargain with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.
The Long History of Rebellion
2 The Lord has an indictment against Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways,
and requite him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he strove with God.
4 He strove with the angel and prevailed,
he wept and sought his favor.
He met God at Bethel,
and there God spoke with him[a]—
5 the Lord the God of hosts,
the Lord is his name:
6 “So you, by the help of your God, return,
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”
7 A trader, in whose hands are false balances,
he loves to oppress.
8 E′phraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich,
I have gained wealth for myself”;
but all his riches can never offset[b]
the guilt he has incurred.
9 I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied visions,
and through the prophets gave parables.
11 If there is iniquity in Gilead
they shall surely come to nought;
if in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
their altars also shall be like stone heaps
on the furrows of the field.
12 (Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
there Israel did service for a wife,
and for a wife he herded sheep.)
13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was preserved.
14 E′phraim has given bitter provocation;
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him,
and will turn back upon him his reproaches.
Relentless Judgment on Israel
13 When E′phraim spoke, men trembled;
he was exalted in Israel;
but he incurred guilt through Ba′al and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and make for themselves molten images,
idols skilfully made of their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
Sacrifice to these, they say.[c]
Men kiss calves!
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
or like the dew that goes early away,
like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or like smoke from a window.
4 I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no saviour.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 but when they had fed[d] to the full,
they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
7 So I will be to them like a lion,
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild beast would rend them.
9 I will destroy you, O Israel;
who[e] can help you?
10 Where[f] now is your king, to save you;
where are all[g] your princes,[h] to defend you[i]—
those of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I have given you kings in my anger,
and I have taken them away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of E′phraim is bound up,
his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son;
for now he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where[j] are your plagues?
O Sheol, where[k] is your destruction?
Compassion is hid from my eyes.
15 Though he may flourish as the reed plant,[l]
the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness;
and his fountain shall dry up,
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip his treasury
of every precious thing.
16 [m] Samar′ia shall bear her guilt,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword,
their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open.
A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept that which is good
and we will render
the fruit[n] of our lips.
3 Assyria shall not save us,
we will not ride upon horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In thee the orphan finds mercy.”
Assurance of Forgiveness
4 I will heal their faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 I will be as the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom as the lily,
he shall strike root as the poplar;[o]
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and dwell beneath my[p] shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;[q]
they shall blossom as the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O E′phraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.[r]
I am like an evergreen cypress,
from me comes your fruit.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
The Heavenly Worship
4 After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. 4 Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 5 From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11 “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for thou didst create all things,
and by thy will they existed and were created.”
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.