Old/New Testament
12 What Israel does is as useless as chasing the wind,
as dangerous as being in a windstorm.
They tell more and more lies
and do more and more violence.
They make agreements with Assyria,
and they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.
2 The Lord also has some things against Judah.
He will punish Israel for what they have done.
He will give them what they deserve.
3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother’s heel
while the two of them were being born.
When Jacob grew to be a man,
he wrestled with God.
4 He wrestled with the angel and won.
Jacob cried and asked for his blessing.
Later, God met with him at Bethel
and spoke with him there.
5 He is the Lord God of heaven’s armies.
He wants to be remembered as the Lord.
6 Like Jacob you must return to him.
You must be loyal and true to him.
You must do what is honest and just.
You must always trust in him as your God.
7 The merchants use dishonest scales.
They like to cheat people.
8 The people of Israel brag that they are rich.
They think that because they are rich
no one will learn about their sins.
9 “But I am the Lord your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again
as you used to do in the desert.
10 I spoke to the prophets
and gave them many visions.
Through them, I taught my lessons to you.”
11 The people of Gilead are evil.
They are worth nothing.
People sacrifice bulls at Gilgal.
But their altars will become like
piles of stone in a plowed field.
12 Your ancestor Jacob fled to Northwest Mesopotamia.
There he worked to get a wife.
He tended sheep to pay for her.
13 Later the Lord used a prophet
to bring Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt.
The Lord used a prophet
to take care of the Israelites.
14 But the Israelites made the Lord angry.
They killed other people.
They deserve to die for their crimes.
The Lord will make them pay
for the disgraceful things they have done.
The Final Word Against Israel
13 People used to fear the tribe of Ephraim.
They were important people in Israel.
But they sinned by worshiping Baal.
So they must die.
2 But they keep on sinning more and more.
They make idols of their silver.
Those idols are cleverly made.
They are the work of a craftsman.
Yet the people of Israel say to each other,
“Kiss those calf idols and sacrifice to them.”
3 So those people will be like the morning dew.
They will disappear like the morning mist.
They will be like chaff blown from the threshing floor.
They will vanish away like smoke rising from a chimney.
4 “I have been the Lord their God
since they were in the land of Egypt.
They have really known no other God except me.
I am the one who has saved them.
5 I cared for them in the desert
where it was hot and dry.
6 I gave them food, and they became full and satisfied.
But then they became proud and forgot me.
7 That is why I will be like a lion to them.
I will be like a leopard waiting by the road.
8 I will attack like a bear robbed of her cubs.
I will rip their bodies open.
I will devour them like a lion.
I will tear them apart like a wild animal.
9 “Israel, I will destroy you
for turning against me, your helper.
10 What good are your kings and your leaders now?
Can they save you in any of your towns?
You asked for them, saying,
‘Give us a king and leaders.’
11 So I gave you kings, but only in anger.
And I took them away in my great anger.
12 The sins of Israel are on record.
They are filed away, waiting for punishment.
13 Israel has a chance to live again,
but the people are too foolish to take it.
They are like an unborn baby
who won’t come out of its mother’s womb.
14 So I will not save them from the place where the dead are.
I will not rescue them from death.
I will call on death to hurt them.
I will call on the place where the dead are to destroy them.
I will show them no mercy.
15 Israel has become important among the nations.
But the Lord will send a destroyer from the east.
He will come like a wind from the desert
that dries up all the springs and wells of water.
He will destroy all their treasures,
everything of value.
16 The nation of Israel will be punished,
because it fought against God.
The people of Israel will die by the sword.
Their children will be torn to pieces.
And their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
Israel Returns to God
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God.
Your sins have caused your ruin.
2 Come back to the Lord
and say these words to him:
“Take away all our sin
and kindly receive us.
Then we will give you the praise we promised you.
3 Assyria cannot save us.
We will not trust in our horses.
We will not say again, ‘Our gods,’
to the things our hands have made.
You show mercy to us, who are like orphans.”
4 The Lord says,
“I will forgive them for leaving me.
I will love them freely.
I am not angry with them anymore.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel.
It will blossom like a lily.
Like the cedar trees in Lebanon,
its roots will be firm.
6 The people will be like spreading branches.
They will be like the beautiful olive trees.
They will be like the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.
7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection.
They will grow like the grain.
They will bloom like a vine.
They will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Israel, have nothing to do with idols.
I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers.
I am the one who watches over you.
I am like a green pine tree.
Your blessings come from me.”
9 A wise person will know these things.
An understanding person will take them to heart.
The Lord’s ways are right.
Good people live by following them,
but those who turn against God die because of them.
John Sees Heaven
4 After this I looked, and there before me was an open door in heaven. And I heard the same voice that spoke to me before. It was the voice that sounded like a trumpet. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” 2 Then the Spirit took control of me. There before me was a throne in heaven. Someone was sitting on the throne. 3 The One who sat on the throne looked like precious stones, like jasper and carnelian. All around the throne was a rainbow the color of an emerald. 4 Around the throne there were 24 other thrones. There were 24 elders[a] sitting on the 24 thrones. The elders were dressed in white, and they had golden crowns on their heads. 5 Lightning flashes and noises of thunder came from the throne. Before the throne there were seven lamps burning. These lamps are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also before the throne there was something that looked like a sea of glass. It was clear like crystal.
Around the throne, on each side, there were four living things. These living things had eyes all over them, in front and in back. 7 The first living thing was like a lion. The second was like a calf. The third had a face like a man. The fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of these four living things had six wings. The living things were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stop saying:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God All-Powerful.
He was, he is, and he is coming.”
9 These living things give glory and honor and thanks to the One who sits on the throne. He is the One who lives forever and ever. And every time the living things do this, 10 the 24 elders bow down before the One who sits on the throne. The elders worship him who lives forever and ever. They put their crowns down before the throne and say:
11 “Our Lord and God! You are worthy
to receive glory and honor and power.
You made all things.
Everything existed and was made
because you wanted it.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.