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God’s Controversy with Israel
4 (A)Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,
For the Lord has a (B)case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is (C)no [a]faithfulness or [b]kindness
Or (D)knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is (E)swearing, (F)deception, (G)murder, (H)stealing and (I)adultery.
They employ violence, so that (J)bloodshed [c]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land (K)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea [d]disappear.
4 Yet let no one [e](L)find fault, and let none offer reproof;
For your people are like those who (M)contend with the priest.
5 So you will (N)stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your (O)mother.
6 (P)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have (Q)rejected knowledge,
I also will (R)reject you from being My priest.
Since you have (S)forgotten the (T)law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they (U)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will (V)change their glory into shame.
8 They (W)feed on the [f]sin of My people
And (X)direct their desire toward their iniquity.
9 And it will be, like people, (Y)like priest;
So I will (Z)punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
10 (AA)They will eat, but not have enough;
They will (AB)play the harlot, but not increase,
Because they have [g](AC)stopped giving heed to the Lord.
11 Harlotry, (AD)wine and new wine take away the [h]understanding.
12 My people (AE)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
And they have played the harlot, departing [i]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the (AF)tops of the mountains
And [j](AG)burn incense on the hills,
(AH)Under oak, poplar and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the harlot
And your [k]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot
Or your [l]brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves go apart with harlots
And offer sacrifices with (AI)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are [m]ruined.
15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Do not let Judah become guilty;
Also do not go to (AJ)Gilgal,
Or go up to Beth-aven
(AK)And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
16 Since Israel is (AL)stubborn
Like a stubborn heifer,
[n]Can the Lord now (AM)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is joined to (AN)idols;
(AO)Let him alone.
18 Their liquor gone,
They play the harlot continually;
(AP)Their [o]rulers dearly love shame.
19 (AQ)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
The People’s Apostasy Rebuked
5 Hear this, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
For you have been a (AR)snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The (AS)revolters have [p](AT)gone deep in depravity,
But I will chastise all of them.
3 I (AU)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,
Israel has defiled itself.
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a (AV)spirit of harlotry is within them,
And they (AW)do not know the Lord.
5 Moreover, the (AX)pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
(AY)Judah also has stumbled with them.
6 They will (AZ)go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will (BA)not find Him;
He has (BB)withdrawn from them.
7 They have (BC)dealt treacherously against the Lord,
For they have borne [q](BD)illegitimate children.
Now the (BE)new moon will devour them with their [r]land.
8 (BF)Blow the horn in (BG)Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“(BH)Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become a (BI)desolation in the (BJ)day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I (BK)declare what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become like those who (BL)move a boundary;
On them I will (BM)pour out My wrath (BN)like water.
11 Ephraim is (BO)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
(BP)Because he was determined to [s]follow man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a (BQ)moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [t]wound,
Then Ephraim went to (BR)Assyria
And sent to [u](BS)King Jareb.
But he is (BT)unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [v]wound.
14 For I will be (BU)like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
(BV)I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be (BW)none to deliver.
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [w](BX)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly (BY)seek Me.
Walk According to His Commandments
1 (A)The elder to the (B)chosen (C)lady and her children, whom I (D)love in truth; and not only I, but also all who (E)know the truth, 2 for (F)the sake of the truth which abides (G)in us and will be (H)with us forever: 3 (I)Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 (J)I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. 5 Now I ask you, lady, (K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had (L)from the beginning, that we (M)love one another. 6 And (N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, (O)just as you have heard (P)from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
7 For (Q)many deceivers have (R)gone out into the world, those who (S)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is (T)the deceiver and the (U)antichrist. 8 (V)Watch yourselves, (W)that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 9 [a]Anyone who [b]goes too far and (X)does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, (Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting (Z)participates in his evil deeds.
12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that [c]your (AB)joy may be made full.
13 The children of your (AC)chosen sister greet you.
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are as Mount Zion, which (A)cannot be moved but (B)abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (C)the Lord surrounds His people
(D)From this time forth and forever.
3 For the (E)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [a]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (F)will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.