HOSEA 1:1-3:5
1 JOHN 5:1-21
PSALM 124:1-8
PROVERBS 29:5-8
HOSEA 1:1-3:5
The LORD gave these messages to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 2 When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, " Go and marry a prostitute, so some of her children will be born to you from other men. This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me, openly committing adultery against the LORD by worshiping other gods." 3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. 4 And the LORD said, " Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu's dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. 5 In fact, I will put an end to Israel's independence by breaking its military power in the Jezreel Valley."6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, " Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah--` Not loved'--for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I, the LORD their God, will show love to the people of Judah. I will personally free them from their enemies without any help from weapons or armies." 8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. 9 And the LORD said, " Name him Lo-ammi--` Not my people'--for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God. 10 Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore--too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ` You are not my people,' it will be said, ` You are children of the living God.' 11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite under one leader, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be--the day of Jezreel--when God will again plant his people in his land. 1 In that day you will call your brothers Ammi--` My people.' And you will call your sisters Ruhamah--` The ones I love.' 2:2 " BUT now, call Israel to account, for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to take off her garish makeup and suggestive clothing and to stop playing the prostitute. 3 If she doesn't, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a desert or a dry and barren wilderness. 4 And I will not love her children as I would my own because they are not my children! They were conceived in adultery. 5 For their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ` I'll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and drink, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil.' 6 " But I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block the road to make her lose her way. 7 When she runs after her lovers, she won't be able to catch up with them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ` I might as well return to my husband because I was better off with him than I am now.' 8 She doesn't realize that it was I who gave her everything she has--the grain, the wine, the olive oil. Even the gold and silver she used in worshiping the god Baal were gifts from me! 9 " But now I will take back the wine and ripened grain I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the linen and wool clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. 10 I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands. 11 I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days--all her appointed festivals. 12 I will destroy her vineyards and orchards, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit. 13 I will punish her for all the times she deserted me, when she burned incense to her images of Baal, put on her earrings and jewels, and went out looking for her lovers," says the LORD. 14 " But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. 15 I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. 16 " In that coming day," says the LORD, " you will call me ` my husband' instead of ` my master.' 17 O Israel, I will cause you to forget your images of Baal; even their names will no longer be spoken. 18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds and the animals that scurry along the ground so that they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety. 19 I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. 20 I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as LORD. 21 " In that day," says the LORD, " I will answer the pleading of the sky for clouds, which will pour down water on the earth in answer to its cries for rain. 22 Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapes, and the olive trees for moisture. And the whole grand chorus will sing together, ` Jezreel'--` God plants!' 23 " At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself! I will show love to those I called ` Not loved.' And to those I called ` Not my people,' I will say, ` Now you are my people.' Then they will reply, ` You are our God!' "3:1 THEN the LORD said to me, " Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the LORD still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts." 2 So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine. 3 Then I said to her, " You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual intercourse with anyone, not even with me." 4 This illustrates that Israel will be a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, temple, priests, or even idols! 5 But afterward the people will return to the LORD their God and to David's descendant, their king. They will come trembling in awe to the LORD, and they will receive his good gifts in the last days.
1 JOHN 5:1-21
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. 5 And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross--not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that this is true. 7 So we have these three witnesses--8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood--and all three agree. 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know that this is true. Those who don't believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don't believe what God has testified about his Son. 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life. 13 I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. 15 And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for. 16 If you see a Christian brother or sister* sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 17 Every wrong is sin, but not all sin leads to death.18 We know that those who have become part of God's family do not make a practice of sinning, for God's Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot get his hands on them. 19 We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we are in God because we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.
PSALM 124:1-8
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.
1 If the LORD had not been on our side--
let Israel now say--
2 if the LORD had not been on our side
when people rose up against us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
because of their burning anger against us.
4 The waters would have engulfed us;
a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury
would have overwhelmed our very lives.
6 Blessed be the LORD,
who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap.
The trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help is from the LORD,
who made the heavens and the earth.
PROVERBS 29:5-8
To flatter people is to lay a trap for their feet. Evil people are trapped by sin, but the righteous escape, shouting for joy. The godly know the rights of the poor; the wicked don't care to know. Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but those who are wise will calm anger.
