Israel’s Sin and Captivity

10 Israel (A)empties his vine;
He brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit
(B)He has increased the altars;
According to the bounty of his land
They have embellished his sacred pillars.
Their heart is (C)divided;[a]
Now they are held guilty.
He will break down their altars;
He will ruin their sacred pillars.

For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up (D)like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the (E)calf[b] of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And [c]its priests shriek for it—
Because its (F)glory has departed from it.
The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King (G)Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
Also the (H)high places of [d]Aven, (I)the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
(J)They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of (K)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The (L)battle in Gibeah against the children of [e]iniquity
Did not [f]overtake them.
10 When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
(M)Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them [g]for their two transgressions.
11 Ephraim is (N)a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim [h]pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
(O)Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He (P)comes and rains righteousness on you.

13 (Q)You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
14 Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.

God’s Continuing Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a [i]child, I loved him,
And out of Egypt (R)I called My (S)son.
[j]As they called them,
So they (T)went [k]from them;
They sacrificed to the Baals,
And burned incense to carved images.

“I(U) taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by [l]their arms;
But they did not know that (V)I healed them.
I drew them with [m]gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And (W)I was to them as those who take the yoke from their [n]neck.
(X)I stooped and fed them.

“He shall not return to the land of Egypt;
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.
And the sword shall slash in his cities,
Devour his districts,
And consume them,
Because of their own counsels.
My people are bent on (Y)backsliding from Me.
Though [o]they call [p]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

“How(Z) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like (AA)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart [q]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
(AB)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not [r]come with terror.

10 “They shall walk after the Lord.
(AC)He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
11 They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
(AD)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
(AE)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.

God’s Charge Against Ephraim

12 “Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the [s]Holy One who is faithful.

Ephraim’s Sins Rebuked by God

12 “Ephraim (AF)feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and [t]desolation.
(AG)Also they make a [u]covenant with the Assyrians,
And (AH)oil is carried to Egypt.

“The(AI) Lord also brings a [v]charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
He took his brother (AJ)by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he (AK)struggled with God.
Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in (AL)Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His (AM)memorable name.
(AN)So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.

“A cunning [w]Canaanite!
(AO)Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
And Ephraim said,
(AP)‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’

“But I am the Lord your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
(AQ)I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
10 (AR)I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given [x]symbols [y]through the witness of the prophets.”

11 Though (AS)Gilead has idols—
Surely they are [z]vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in (AT)Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob (AU)fled to the country of Syria;
(AV)Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
13 (AW)By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
14 Ephraim (AX)provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
(AY)And return his reproach upon him.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:2 Divided in loyalty
  2. Hosea 10:5 Lit. calves, images
  3. Hosea 10:5 idolatrous priests
  4. Hosea 10:8 Lit. Idolatry or Wickedness
  5. Hosea 10:9 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Vg.; MT unruliness
  6. Hosea 10:9 Or overcome
  7. Hosea 10:10 Or in their two habitations
  8. Hosea 10:11 Lit. to ride
  9. Hosea 11:1 Or youth
  10. Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX Just as I called them; Tg. interprets as I sent prophets to a thousand of them.
  11. Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX from My face
  12. Hosea 11:3 Some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. My arms
  13. Hosea 11:4 Lit. cords of a man
  14. Hosea 11:4 Lit. jaws
  15. Hosea 11:7 The prophets
  16. Hosea 11:7 Or upward
  17. Hosea 11:8 Lit. turns over
  18. Hosea 11:9 Or enter a city
  19. Hosea 11:12 Or holy ones
  20. Hosea 12:1 ruin
  21. Hosea 12:1 Or treaty
  22. Hosea 12:2 A legal complaint
  23. Hosea 12:7 Or merchant
  24. Hosea 12:10 Or parables
  25. Hosea 12:10 Lit. by the hand
  26. Hosea 12:11 worthless

BOOK THREE

Psalms 73–89

The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
(C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.

For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
(E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
(G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
(H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.

18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 (R)Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 (S)My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the [g]strength of my heart and my (T)portion forever.

27 For indeed, (U)those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who [h]desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to (V)draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord God,
That I may (W)declare all Your works.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 73:4 pains
  2. Psalm 73:7 Tg. face bulges; LXX, Syr., Vg. iniquity bulges
  3. Psalm 73:8 Proudly
  4. Psalm 73:13 kept my heart pure in vain
  5. Psalm 73:16 troublesome in my eyes
  6. Psalm 73:21 Lit. pierced in my kidneys
  7. Psalm 73:26 Lit. rock
  8. Psalm 73:27 Are unfaithful to You

The Promise of Rest

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, (A)let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, [a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

(B)“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: (C)“And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this place: (D)“They shall not enter My rest.”

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

(E)“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

For if [b]Joshua had (F)given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

The Word Discovers Our Condition

11 (G)Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is (H)living and powerful, and (I)sharper than any (J)two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is (K)a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 (L)And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are (M)naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Our Compassionate High Priest

14 Seeing then that we have a great (N)High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, (O)let us hold fast our confession. 15 For (P)we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but (Q)was in all points tempted as we are, (R)yet without sin. 16 (S)Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 4:2 NU, M since they were not united by faith with those who heeded it
  2. Hebrews 4:8 Gr. Jesus, same as Heb. Joshua

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