Hosea 12:8-14:10
8 “As for Canaan,
There is a balance of wrongdoing in his hand,
For he has loved to oppress.
9 As for Ephraim, he said,
‘Nevertheless, I am rich;
I have found relief for myself.’
But none of his labors shall be found in him,
Because of the wrongdoings by which he sinned.
10 “But I the Lord your God brought you up
Out of the land of Egypt.
I will yet again cause you to dwell in tents
According to the days of the feast.
11 For I will speak to the prophets,
And I have multiplied visions,
And by the authority of the prophets
I was represented.”
12 If Gilead does not exist,
Then the leaders in Gilead were false when they sacrificed,
And their altars were like mounds on a parched field.
13 Jacob retreated into the plain of Syria,
And Israel served for a wife
And kept watch for a wife.
14 The Lord brought Israel
Out of the land of Egypt by a prophet,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
15 Ephraim was angry and excited;
Therefore his blood shall be poured out upon him,
And the Lord shall repay him for his disgrace.
Relentless Judgment on Israel
1 According to the word of Ephraim,
He received ordinances for himself in Israel
And established them for Baal; then he died.
2 So now they have sinned increasingly
And have made for themselves
A molten image with their silver,
According to the fashion of idols,
The work of craftsmen done for them.
They say, “Sacrifice men,
For the calves have come to an end.”
3 Therefore they shall be as a morning cloud
And as the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown away from the threshing floor
And as smoke out of the chimney.
4 “But I am the Lord your God,
Who makes the heaven firm and creates the earth,
Whose hands have created the whole host of heaven.
But I did not show them to you that you should seek after them.
I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
And there is no Savior besides Me.
5 I tended you as a shepherd in the wilderness,
In an uninhabited land.
6 When they had their pastures,
They were completely filled,
And their hearts were exalted;
Therefore, they forgot Me.
7 “So I will be to them as a panther
And as a leopard by way of the Assyrians.
8 I will meet them as an excited she-bear,
And I will rend the hardness of their heart.
The lions’ whelps of the thicket shall devour them there;
The wild beasts of the field shall rend them in pieces.
9 “O Israel, who will help you in your destruction?
10 Where is this king of yours?
Let him save you in all your cities.
Let him judge you, of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and a prince.’
11 Thus I gave you a king in My anger
And took him back in My wrath.
12 “Ephraim is a conspiracy of unrighteousness;
His sin is hidden.
13 Pains as of a woman in travail shall come upon him.
He is your unwise son,
For he shall not stand in the destruction of your children.
14 “I will deliver them out of the hand of Hades
And will redeem them from death.
Where is your penalty, O death?
O Hades, where is your sting?
Pity is hidden from My eyes.”
15 Forasmuch as he will cause
A division among his brethren,
The Lord shall bring upon him
A hot wind from the desert,
And shall dry up his springs
And drain his fountains.
He shall dry up his land
And spoil all his precious vessels.
1 Samaria shall be utterly destroyed,
For she has resisted her God;
And they shall fall by the sword.
Their infants shall be dashed against the ground
And their pregnant women ripped up.
Restoration of Israel
2 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you became weak through your wrongdoings.
3 Take with you words
And turn to the Lord your God.
Speak to Him,
That you may not receive the reward of unrighteousness,
But that you may receive good things.
We will render in return the fruit of our lips.
4 Assyria will not save us;
We will not mount on horseback.
Let us no longer say to the works of our hands,
“Our gods.”
He who is among you shall have mercy on the orphan.
5 “I will restore their dwellings.
I will love them willingly,
For he has turned away My wrath from them.
6 I will be as dew to Israel;
He shall bloom as the lily
And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
7 His branches shall spread,
And he shall be as a fruitful olive tree,
And his fragrance shall be as the smell of Lebanon.
8 They shall return and dwell under his shadow;
They shall live and be satisfied with corn,
And he shall flower as a vine;
His memorial shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
9 “To Ephraim: What has he to do any more with idols?
I have humbled him
And I will strengthen him.
I am as a leafy juniper tree.
From Me your fruit is found.”
10 Who is wise and will understand these things?
Or prudent and will know them?
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
And the righteous shall walk in them;
But the ungodly shall become weak in them.
Psalm 87
1 An ode of a psalm for the sons of Korah; for the End, for the Mahalath to respond; understanding for Heman the Israelite.
2 O Lord God of my salvation,
I cry day and night before You.
3 Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my supplication, O Lord.
4 For my soul is filled with sorrows,
And my soul draws near to Hades;
5 I am counted among those who go down into the pit;
I am like a helpless man, free among the dead,
6 Like slain men thrown down and sleeping in a grave,
Whom You remember no more,
But they are removed from Your hand.
7 They laid me in the lowest pit,
In dark places and in the shadow of death.
8 Your wrath rested upon me,
And You brought all Your billows over me.
(Pause)
9 You removed my acquaintances far from me;
They made me an abomination among themselves;
I was betrayed, and did not go forth.
10 My eyes weakened from poverty;
O Lord, I cry to You the whole day long;
I spread out my hands to You.
11 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Or will physicians raise them up, and acknowledge You?
12 Shall anyone in the grave describe Your mercy
And Your truth in destruction?
13 Shall Your wonders be known in darkness,
And Your righteousness in a forgotten land?
14 But I cry to You, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer shall come near to You.
15 Why, O Lord, do You reject my soul,
And turn away Your face from me?
16 I am poor and in troubles from my youth;
But having been exalted, I was humbled and brought into despair.
17 Your fierce anger passed over me,
And Your terrors greatly troubled me;
18 They compassed me like water all the day long;
They surrounded me at once.
19 You removed far from me neighbor and friend,
And my acquaintances because of my misery.
Proverbs 18:12–17
12 Before its destruction, the heart of a man exalts itself,
And before its glory, it humbles itself.
13 He who replies to a word before he hears it
Lacks discernment, and this is a reproach to him.
14 A servant with discernment calms the anger of a man,
But who can support a discouraged man?
15 A heart of discernment gains perception,
And the ears of the wise seek understanding.
16 The gift of a man enlarges him
And seats him beside princes.
17 When a prosecutor speaks first, he seems righteous,
But when the defendant examines his case, he is reproved.
Colossians 4:2–18
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Final Greetings
(cf. Eph. 6:21, 22)
7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.
Closing Exhortations and Blessing
16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
17 And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”18 This salutation by my own hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.