HOSEA 6:1-9:17
3 JOHN 1-15
PSALM 126:1-6
PROVERBS 29:12-14
HOSEA 6:1-9:17
" Come, let us [Israel and Judah] return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. 2 In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence. 3 Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring." 4 " O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?" asks the LORD. " For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight. 5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces. I have slaughtered you with my words, threatening you with death. My judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night. 6 I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings. 7 " But like Adam, you broke my covenant and rebelled against me. 8 Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. 9 Its citizens are bands of robbers, lying in ambush for their victims. Gangs of priests murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin. 10 Yes, I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: My people have defiled themselves by chasing after other gods! 11 " O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted so much to restore the fortunes of my people!7:1 " I WANTED to heal Israel, but its sins were far too great. Samaria is filled with liars, thieves, and bandits! 2 Its people don't realize I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them; I see them all! 3 The people make the king glad with their wickedness. The princes laugh about the people's many lies. 4 They are all adulterers, always aflame with lust. They are like an oven that is kept hot even while the baker is still kneading the dough. 5 " On royal holidays, the princes get drunk. The king makes a fool of himself and drinks with those who are making fun of him. 6 Their hearts blaze like a furnace with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it flames forth like a raging fire. 7 They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries out to me for help. 8 " My people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, picking up their evil ways. Now they have become as worthless as a half-baked cake! 9 Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don't even know it. Israel is like an old man with graying hair, unaware of how weak and old he has become. 10 His arrogance testifies against him, yet he doesn't return to the LORD his God or even try to find him. 11 " The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves, first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria. 12 But as they fly about, I will throw my net over them and bring them down like a bird from the sky. I will punish them for all their evil ways.13 " How terrible it will be for my people who have deserted me! Let them die, for they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them, but they have only spoken lies about me. 14 They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for crops and prosperity. 15 " I trained them and made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me. 16 They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High. They are like a crooked bow that always misses its target. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.8:1 " SOUND the alarm! The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the LORD, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law. 2 Now Israel pleads with me, ` Help us, for you are our God!' 3 But it is too late! The people of Israel have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them. 4 The people have appointed kings and princes, but not with my consent. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction. 5 " O Samaria, I reject this calf--this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence? 6 This calf you worship was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits. 7 " They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of wheat wither, producing no grain. And if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it. 8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up; they lie among the nations like an old pot that no one wants. 9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate, they have gone up to Assyria. The people of Israel have sold themselves to many lovers. 10 But though they have sold themselves to many lands, I will now gather them together. Then they will writhe under the burden of the great king! 11 " Israel has built many altars to take away sin, but these very altars became places for sinning! 12 Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don't apply to them. 13 The people of Israel love their rituals of sacrifice, but to me their sacrifices are all meaningless! I will call my people to account for their sins, and I will punish them. They will go back down to Egypt.14 " Israel has built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. But they have both forgotten their Maker. Therefore, I will send down fire on their palaces and burn their fortresses." 9:1 O PEOPLE of Israel, do not rejoice as others do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, offering sacrifices to other gods on every threshing floor. 2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. The grapes you gather will not quench your thirst. 3 You may no longer stay here in this land of the LORD. You will be carried off to Egypt and Assyria, where you will live on food that is ceremonially unclean. 4 There, far from home, you will not be allowed to pour out wine as a sacrifice to the LORD. None of the sacrifices you offer there will please him. Such sacrifices will be unclean, just as food touched by a person in mourning is unclean. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food to feed themselves, but they may not offer it to the LORD. 5 What then will you do on festival days? What will you do on days of feasting in the LORD's presence? 6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, you will be conquered by Egypt. Memphis will bury you. Briers will take over your treasures of silver; brambles will fill your homes. 7 The time of Israel's punishment has come; the day of payment is almost here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. " The prophets are crazy!" the people shout. " The inspired men are mad!" So they taunt, for the nation is burdened with sin and shows only hatred for those who love God. 8 The prophet is a watchman for my God over Israel, yet traps are laid in front of him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. 9 The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins.10 The LORD says, " O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert! When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season! But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol. Soon they became as vile as the god they worshiped. 11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. 12 Even if your children do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. 13 I have watched Israel become as beautiful and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be slaughtered." 14 O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. 15 The LORD says, " All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. 16 The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children." 17 My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations.
3 JOHN 1-15
This letter is from John the Elder. It is written to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. 3 Some of the brothers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living in the truth. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children live in the truth. 5 Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God when you take care of the traveling teachers* who are passing through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. You do well to send them on their way in a manner that pleases God. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord and accept nothing from those who are not Christians. 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we may become partners with them for the truth.9 I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God. 12 But everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, even truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth. 13 I have much to tell you, but I don't want to do it in a letter. 14 For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face. 15 May God's peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.
PSALM 126:1-6
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.
1 When the LORD restored his exiles to Jerusalem,
it was like a dream!
2 We were filled with laughter,
and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
" What amazing things the LORD has done for them."
3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us!
What joy!
4 Restore our fortunes, LORD,
as streams renew the desert.
5 Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
6 They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with the harvest.
PROVERBS 29:12-14
If a ruler honors liars, all his advisers will be wicked. The poor and the oppressor have this in common--the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. A king who is fair to the poor will have a long reign.
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