Hosea 2-5

New King James Version

The Lord’s Love for His Unfaithful People

2 Say to your brethren, ^[a]‘My people,’
And to your sisters, ^[b]‘Mercy is shown.’

God’s Unfaithful People

²“Bring^[c] charges against your mother, ^[d]bring charges;
For ^(A)she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her ^(B)harlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts;
³Lest ^(C)I strip her naked
And expose her, as in the day she was ^(D)born,
And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land,
And slay her with ^(E)thirst.

⁴“I will not have mercy on her children,
For they are the ^(F)children of harlotry.
⁵For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
^(G)Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my linen,
My oil and my drink.’

⁶“Therefore, behold,
^(H)I will hedge up your way with thorns,
And ^[e]wall her in,
So that she cannot find her paths.
⁷She will ^[f]chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
^(I)‘I will go and return to my ^(J)first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.’
⁸For she did not ^(K)know
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold—
Which they prepared for Baal.

⁹“Therefore I will return and take away
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
Given to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰Now ^(L)I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
¹¹^(M)I will also cause all her mirth to cease,
Her feast days,
Her New Moons,
Her Sabbaths—
All her appointed feasts.

¹²“And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
Of which she has said,
‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’
So I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
¹³I will punish her
For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And went after her lovers;
But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.

God’s Mercy on His People

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak ^[g]comfort to her.
¹⁵I will give her her vineyards from there,
And ^(N)the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in ^(O)the days of her youth,
^(P)As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

¹⁶“And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ^[h]‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ^[i]‘My Master,’
¹⁷For ^(Q)I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
¹⁸In that day I will make a ^(R)covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle ^(S)I will shatter from the earth,
To make them ^(T)lie down safely.

¹⁹“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
²⁰I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And ^(U)you shall know the Lord.

²¹“It shall come to pass in that day
That ^(V)I will answer,” says the Lord;
“I will answer the heavens,
And they shall answer the earth.
²²The earth shall answer
With grain,
With new wine,
And with oil;
They shall answer ^[j]Jezreel.
²³Then ^(W)I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
^(X)And I will have mercy on her who had ^[k]not obtained mercy;
Then ^(Y)I will say to those who were ^[l]not My people,
‘You are ^[m]My people!’
And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Israel Will Return to God

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a ^(Z)lover^[n] and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”

²So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. ³And I said to her, “You shall ^(AA)stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

⁴For the children of Israel shall abide many days ^(AB)without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ^(AC)ephod or ^(AD)teraphim. ⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return and ^(AE)seek the Lord their God and ^(AF)David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the ^(AG)latter days.

God’s Charge Against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a ^(AH)charge^[o] against the inhabitants of the land:

“There is no truth or mercy
Or ^(AI)knowledge of God in the land.
²By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed ^[p]upon bloodshed.
³Therefore ^(AJ)the land will mourn;
And ^(AK)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

⁴“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those ^(AL)who contend with the priest.
⁵Therefore you shall stumble ^(AM)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
⁶^(AN)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
^(AO)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

⁷“The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
^(AP)I^[q] will change ^[r]their glory into shame.
⁸They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their ^[s]heart on their iniquity.
⁹And it shall be: ^(AQ)like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And ^[t]reward them for their deeds.
¹⁰For ^(AR)they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

The Idolatry of Israel

¹¹“Harlotry, wine, and new wine ^(AS)enslave the heart.
¹²My people ask counsel from their ^(AT)wooden idols,
And their ^[u]staff informs them.
For ^(AU)the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
¹³^(AV)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
^(AW)Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴“I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a ^(AX)ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.

¹⁵“Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
^(AY)Do not come up to Gilgal,
Nor go up to ^(AZ)Beth^[v] Aven,
^(BA)Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—

¹⁶“For Israel ^(BB)is stubborn
Like a stubborn calf;
Now the Lord will let them forage
Like a lamb in ^[w]open country.

¹⁷“Ephraim is joined to idols,
^(BC)Let him alone.
¹⁸Their drink ^[x]is rebellion,
They commit harlotry continually.
^(BD)Her ^[y]rulers ^[z]dearly love dishonor.
¹⁹^(BE)The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And ^(BF)they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

5 “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For ^[aa]yours is the judgment,
Because ^(BG)you have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.
²The revolters are ^(BH)deeply involved in slaughter,
Though I rebuke them all.
³^(BI)I know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, ^(BJ)you commit harlotry;
Israel is defiled.

⁴“They^[ab] do not direct their deeds
Toward turning to their God,
For ^(BK)the spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know the Lord.
⁵The ^(BL)pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them.

⁶“With their flocks and herds
^(BM)They shall go to seek the Lord,
But they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
⁷They have ^(BN)dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have begotten ^[ac]pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

⁸“Blow^(BO) the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
^(BP)Cry aloud at ^(BQ)Beth Aven,
‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’
⁹Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

¹⁰“The princes of Judah are like those who ^(BR)remove a landmark;
I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(BS)oppressed and broken in judgment,
Because he willingly walked by ^(BT)human precept.
¹²Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,
And to the house of Judah ^(BU)like rottenness.

¹³“When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his ^(BV)wound,
Then Ephraim went ^(BW)to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.
¹⁴For ^(BX)I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
^(BY)I, even I, will tear them and go away;
I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
¹⁵I will return again to My place
Till they ^[ad]acknowledge their offense.
Then they will seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Footnotes

Hosea 2:1 Heb. Ammi, Hos. 1:9, 10
Hosea 2:1 Heb. Ruhamah, Hos. 1:6
Hosea 2:2 Or Contend with
Hosea 2:2 Or contend
Hosea 2:6 Lit. wall up her wall
Hosea 2:7 Or pursue
Hosea 2:14 Lit. to her heart
Hosea 2:16 Heb. Ishi
Hosea 2:16 Heb. Baali
Hosea 2:22 Lit. God Will Sow
Hosea 2:23 Heb. lo-ruhamah
Hosea 2:23 Heb. lo-ammi
Hosea 2:23 Heb. ammi
Hosea 3:1 Lit. friend or husband
Hosea 4:1 A legal complaint
Hosea 4:2 Lit. touching
Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; scribal tradition, Syr., Tg. They will change
Hosea 4:7 So with MT, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; scribal tradition My glory
Hosea 4:8 Desires
Hosea 4:9 repay
Hosea 4:12 Diviner’s rod
Hosea 4:15 Lit. House of Idolatry or Wickedness
Hosea 4:16 Lit. a large place
Hosea 4:18 Or has turned aside
Hosea 4:18 Lit. shields
Hosea 4:18 Heb. difficult; a Jewish tradition shamefully love, ‘Give!’
Hosea 5:1 Or to you
Hosea 5:4 Or Their deeds will not allow them to turn
Hosea 5:7 Lit. strange
Hosea 5:15 Lit. become guilty or bear punishment

Hebrews 2

New King James Version

Do Not Neglect Salvation

2 Therefore we must give ^[a]the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ²For if the word ^(A)spoken through angels proved steadfast, and ^(B)every transgression and disobedience received a just ^[b]reward, ³^(C)how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, ^(D)which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was ^(E)confirmed to us by those who heard Him, ⁴^(F)God also bearing witness ^(G)both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and ^(H)gifts^[c] of the Holy Spirit, ^(I)according to His own will?

The Son Made Lower than Angels^(J)

⁵For He has not put ^(K)the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. ⁶But one testified in a certain place, saying:

^(L)“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
⁷You have made him ^[d]a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
^[e]And set him over the works of Your hands.
⁸^(M)You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now ^(N)we do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹But we see Jesus, ^(O)who was made ^[f]a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death ^(P)crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death ^(Q)for everyone.

Bringing Many Sons to Glory

¹⁰For it was fitting for Him, ^(R)for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation ^(S)perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For ^(T)both He who ^[g]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified ^(U)are all of one, for which reason ^(V)He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹²saying:

^(W)“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

¹³And again:

^(X)“I will put My trust in Him.”

And again:

^(Y)“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

¹⁴Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He ^(Z)Himself likewise shared in the same, ^(AA)that through death He might destroy him who had the power of ^(AB)death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and release those who ^(AC)through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶For indeed He does not ^[h]give aid to angels, but He does ^[i]give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore, in all things He had ^(AD)to be made like His brethren, that He might be ^(AE)a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸^(AF)For in that He Himself has suffered, being ^[j]tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.