Old/New Testament
Judgment against Israel
5 “Hear this, priests,
pay attention, house of Israel,
listen, royal family!
For judgment is coming your way,[a]
because you have been a trap to Mizpah,
a snare spread out on Mount[b] Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep into their slaughter;
I am punishing them all.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel cannot hide from me,
since you, Ephraim, have been acting like a prostitute,
defiling Israel.
4 “Their actions hinder them from turning to their God,
because a spirit of fornication is in their midst,
and the Lord they do not know.
5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him;
therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity,
and Judah with them.
6 They will go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord,
having raised unbelieving children.
In the coming month they will be devoured,
along with their fields.[c]
8 “Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
and the alarm in Ramah.
Cry out at Beth-aven
Go out,[d] Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will be desolate
when it is rebuked.
I have made known among the tribes of Israel
what will surely come about.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like those who move boundary markers:
I will pour out my anger on them like water.
11 Ephraim is crushed,
broken by judgment,
because he[e] willingly pursued idols.[f]
12 Therefore I will consume[g] Ephraim like a moth,
and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.
13 When Ephraim examined his illness
and Judah his injury,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and inquired of the great king;
but he could not cure you
nor heal your injury.
14 Therefore I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I—even I—will tear them[h] to pieces,
and then I will leave.
I will take them[i] away,
and there will be no rescue.
15 “I will leave and go back to my place
until they admit their offense
and seek my face.
When affliction comes to them,
they will eagerly seek me.”
A Call for Israel to Repent
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
even though he has torn us,[j]
he will heal us.
Even though he has wounded us,
he will bind our wounds.[k]
2 After two days, he will restore us to life,
on the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live in his presence.
3 Let us know,
let us pursue knowledge of the Lord;
his coming is as certain as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain,
like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.
4 “What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I to do with you, Judah?
Your love is like a morning rain cloud—
it passes away like the morning dew.
5 Therefore I cut them[l] to pieces by the prophets,
killing them by the words from my mouth.
The verdict against you shines like a beacon.
6 For it is love that I seek,
and not sacrifice;
knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 “But like Adam,[m] they broke the covenant;
in this they have acted deceitfully against me.
8 Gilead is a lawless town;
it is polluted by bloodshed.
9 Like a gang of thieves that stalk a man,
priests commit murder along the road to Shechem,
committing shameful crimes.
10 I have seen a horrible evil in the house of Israel—
Ephraim’s promiscuity.
Israel is defiled.
11 “So, Judah, a harvest has been appointed for you
when I restore my people from captivity.”
God Accuses Israel
7 “When I was healing Israel,
Ephraim’s sin was uncovered,
along with Samaria’s wickedness.
While they craft lying schemes,
the thief invades,
and the gang of thieves plunders outside.
2 It never occurs to them that I remember all their sin.
Now their actions have caught up with them,
and they have my attention.[n]
3 They please the king with their evil,
and the princes with their dishonesty.
4 All of them are adulterers—
they burn like an oven prepared by the baker,
who has ceased stoking it
until the dough is leavened.
5 “On the king’s festival day
the princes got drunk from wine,
so the king[o] joined the mockers.
6 For they have stirred up themselves[p] like an oven
as they lie in ambush.
Their baker sleeps through the night;
in the morning, the oven[q] will be blazing like a fire.
7 They all burn like an oven;
they have consumed their judges;
all their kings have fallen—
not even one of them calls on me.
8 “Ephraim compromises with[r] the nations;
he’s a half-baked cake.[s]
9 Foreigners have consumed his strength,
and he hasn’t noticed.
Furthermore, his head is sprinkled with gray hair,
but he doesn’t realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him;[t]
but they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him in all of this.
11 “Ephraim is also like a silly dove,
lacking sense:[u]
They call out to Egypt,
and turn toward Assyria.
12 When they go,
I’ll cast my net over them.
I’ll bring them down, as one shoots[v] birds in the sky.
I’ll chasten them,
as the assembly has already heard.
13 Woe to them—
because they have run away from me.
Ruin to them—
because they have sinned against me.
Even though I redeemed them,
they spread lies against me.
14 They will not cry to me from their heart—
instead, they wail on their beds.
They gather together to eat and drink,[w]
turning away from me.
15 “Though I have taught them
and strengthened their arms,
nevertheless they plot evil against me.
16 They return—but not to the Most High.
They are like a defective weapon.[x]
Their princes will fall by the sword
because of their raging tongue,
and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt.”
Reaping the Wind Storm
8 “Sound the ram’s horn!
Like a vulture[y] the enemy[z] will come against the Temple of the Lord,
because Israel[aa] violated my covenant,
transgressing my Law.
2 They cry out to me,
‘God, we of Israel acknowledge you.’
3 “Israel has discarded what is good.
The enemy will pursue them.[ab]
4 They set kings in place,
but not by me.
They established princes,
whom I did not recognize.
They crafted idols for themselves from their silver and gold;
as a result, they will be destroyed.
5 Your calf,[ac] Samaria, has been thrown away.
My anger is burning against them.
How long until they become pure again?
6 Because from Israel it was fashioned by craftsmen,
it is not God;
therefore Samaria’s calf will be broken in pieces.
7 “Because they sow the wind,
they will reap the wind storm.
The plant has no stalk
and its bud yields no grain.
Even if there’s a harvest,
foreigners will gobble it up.
8 Israel has been devoured;
now they will live among the nations
like a worthless container.
9 “Because they went over to Assyria,
they are like a wild donkey alone by itself.
Ephraim has hired some lovers.
10 Even though they sold themselves to the nations,
I will gather them.
They will mourn for a while
for the burden they were to the king and princes.[ad]
11 “The more altars Ephraim builds for sin,
the more altars there will be for sin.
12 I prescribed great things from my Law for them,[ae]
but they considered them profane.
13 They offer me meat from the sacrifices of my offerings,
and they eat from it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
He will now remember their transgression
and pay them back for their sins;
to Egypt they will return.
14 “Israel has neglected its maker in building palaces.
Judah has multiplied its fortified cities,
but I will send fire to their cities,
and it will consume their fortresses.”
The Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the messenger[a] of the church in Ephesus, write:
‘The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lamp stands, says this:
2 ‘I know what you’ve been doing, your toil, and your endurance. I also know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not, and have found them to be false. 3 You have endured and suffered because of my name, yet you have not grown weary. 4 However, I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Therefore, remember how far you have fallen. Repent and go back to what you were doing at first. If you don’t, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this is to your credit: You hate the actions of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 ‘Let everyone[b] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in God’s paradise to everyone who overcomes.’”[c]
The Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 “To the messenger[d] of the church in Smyrna, write:
‘The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:
9 ‘I know your suffering and your poverty—though you are rich—and the slander committed by those who claim to be Jews but are not. They are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The Devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.
11 ‘Let everyone[e] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes[f] will never be hurt by the second death.’”
The Letter to the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the messenger[g] of the church in Pergamum, write:
‘The one who holds the sharp, two-edged sword, says this:
13 ‘I know where you live. Satan’s throne is there. Yet you hold on to my name and have not denied your faith in me,[h] even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed in your presence, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you: You have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, the one who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. 15 You also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 So repent. If you don’t, I will come to you quickly and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 ‘Let everyone[i] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give some of the hidden manna to everyone who overcomes.’”[j] I will also give him a white stone. On the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the person who receives it.’”
The Letter to the Church in Thyatira
18 “To the messenger[k] of the church in Thyatira, write:
‘The Son of God, whose eyes are like flaming fire and whose feet are like glowing bronze, says this:
19 ‘I know what you’ve been doing—your love, faithfulness,[l] service, and endurance—and that your last actions are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and who teaches and leads my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refused to repent of her immorality. 22 Look! I am going to strike her with illness.[m] Those who commit adultery with her will also suffer greatly, unless they repent from acting like her. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will reward each of you as your actions deserve.
24 ‘But as for the rest of you in Thyatira—you who do not hold to this teaching and who have not learned what some people call the deep things of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come. 26 I will give authority over the nations to the person who overcomes[n] and continues to do what I’ve commanded[o] to the end, and
27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter;
shattering them like clay pots.’[p]
28 ‘Just as I have received authority from my Father, I will also give him the morning star.
29 ‘Let everyone[q] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
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