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4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel. The Lord has filed a lawsuit against you listing the following charges: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. 2 You swear and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another.
3 “That is why your land is not producing; it is filled with sadness, and all living things grow sick and die; the animals, the birds, and even the fish begin to disappear.
4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame to him! Look, priest, I am pointing my finger at you. 5 As a sentence for your crimes, you priests will stumble in broad daylight as well as in the night, and so will your false ‘prophets’ too; and I will destroy your mother, Israel. 6 My people are destroyed because they don’t know me, and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will ‘forget’ to bless your children. 7 The more my people multiplied, the more they sinned against me. They exchanged the glory of God for the disgrace of idols.
8 “The priests rejoice in the sins of the people; they lap it up and lick their lips for more! 9 And thus it is: ‘Like priests, like people’—because the priests are wicked, the people are too. Therefore, I will punish both priests and people for all their wicked deeds. 10 They will eat and still be hungry. Though they do a big business as prostitutes, they shall have no children, for they have deserted me and turned to other gods.
11 “Wine, women, and song have robbed my people of their brains. 12 For they are asking a piece of wood to tell them what to do. ‘Divine Truth’ comes to them through tea leaves![a] Longing after idols has made them foolish. For they have played the harlot, serving other gods, deserting me. 13 They sacrifice to idols on the tops of mountains; they go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks and poplars and sumac trees.
“There your daughters turn to prostitution and your brides commit adultery. 14 But why should I punish them? For you men are doing the same thing, sinning with harlots and temple prostitutes. Fools! Your doom is sealed, for you refuse to understand.
15 “But though Israel is a prostitute, may Judah stay far from such a life. O Judah, do not join with those who insincerely worship me at Gilgal and at Bethel. Their worship is mere pretense. 16 Don’t be like Israel, stubborn as a heifer, resisting the Lord’s attempts to lead her in green pastures. 17 Stay away from her, for she is wedded to idolatry.
18 “The men of Israel finish up their drinking bouts, and off they go to find some whores. Their love for shame is greater than for honor.[b]
19 “Therefore, a mighty wind shall sweep them away;[c] they shall die in shame because they sacrifice to idols.
5 “Listen to this, you priests and all of Israel’s leaders; listen, all you men of the royal family: You are doomed! For you have deluded the people with idols at Mizpah and Tabor 2 and dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia. But never forget—I will settle up with all of you for what you’ve done.
3 “I have seen your evil deeds: Israel, you have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled. 4 Your deeds won’t let you come to God again, for the spirit of adultery is deep within you, and you cannot know the Lord.
5 “The very arrogance of Israel testifies against her in my court. She will stumble under her load of guilt, and Judah, too, shall fall. 6 Then at last, they will come with their flocks and herds to sacrifice to God, but it will be too late—they will not find him. He has withdrawn from them and they are left alone.
7 “For they have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that aren’t his. Suddenly they and all their wealth will disappear. 8 Sound the alarm! Warn with trumpet blasts in Gibeah and Ramah, and on over to Beth-aven; tremble, land of Benjamin! 9 Hear this announcement, Israel: When your day of punishment comes, you will become a heap of rubble.
10 “The leaders of Judah have become the lowest sort of thieves.[d] Therefore, I will pour my anger down upon them like a waterfall, 11 and Ephraim will be crushed and broken by my sentence because she is determined to follow idols. 12 I will destroy her as a moth does wool; I will sap away the strength of Judah like dry rot.
13 “When Ephraim and Judah see how sick they are, Ephraim will turn to Assyria, to the great king there, but he can neither help nor cure.
14 “I will tear Ephraim and Judah as a lion rips apart its prey; I will carry them off and chase all rescuers away.
15 “I will abandon them and return to my home until they admit their guilt and look to me for help again, for as soon as trouble comes, they will search for me and say:
1 From: John, the old Elder of the church.
To: That dear woman Cyria, one of God’s very own, and to her children whom I love so much, as does everyone else in the church. 2 Since the Truth is in our hearts forever, 3 God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will bless us with great mercy and much peace, and with truth and love.
4 How happy I am to find some of your children here and to see that they are living as they should, following the Truth, obeying God’s command.
5 And now I want to urgently remind you, dear friends, of the old rule God gave us right from the beginning, that Christians should love one another. 6 If we love God, we will do whatever he tells us to. And he has told us from the very first to love each other.
7 Watch out for the false leaders—and there are many of them around—who don’t believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being with a body like ours. Such people are against the truth and against Christ. 8 Beware of being like them and losing the prize that you and I have been working so hard to get. See to it that you win your full reward from the Lord. 9 For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will leave God behind; while if you are loyal to Christ’s teachings, you will have God too. Then you will have both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to teach you, and he doesn’t believe what Christ taught, don’t even invite him into your home. Don’t encourage him in any way. 11 If you do, you will be a partner with him in his wickedness.
12 Well, I would like to say much more, but I don’t want to say it in this letter, for I hope to come to see you soon, and then we can talk over these things together and have a joyous time.
13 Greetings from the children of your sister—another choice child of God.
Sincerely, John
125 Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance.
2 Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds and protects his people. 3 For the wicked shall not rule the godly, lest the godly be forced to do wrong. 4 O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are right with the Lord; 5 but lead evil men to execution. And let Israel have quietness and peace.
9 There’s no use arguing with a fool. He only rages and scoffs, and tempers flare.
10 The godly pray for those who long to kill them.
11 A rebel shouts in anger; a wise man holds his temper in and cools it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.