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Yahweh’s Contention with Israel
4 (A)Listen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel,
For Yahweh has a (B)contention against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is (C)no truth or [a]lovingkindness
Or (D)knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is (E)swearing of oaths, (F)deception, (G)murder, (H)stealing, and (I)adultery.
They break forth in violence so that (J)bloodshed [b]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land (K)mourns,
And everyone who inhabits it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea [c]disappear.
4 Yet let no man (L)contend, and let no man offer reproof;
Indeed, 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 ministering as My priest.
Since you have (S)forgotten the (T)law of your God,
I Myself also will forget your children.
7 The more they (U)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will (V)change their glory into disgrace.
8 They (W)eat the [d]sin of My people
And (X)lift up [e]their soul toward their iniquity.
9 And it will be like people, (Y)like priest;
So I will (Z)punish them for their ways
And cause their deeds to return to them.
10 (AA)They will eat, but not be satisfied;
They will (AB)play the harlot, but not break forth in number,
Because they have [f](AC)forsaken Yahweh to keep harlotry.
11 Harlotry, (AD)wine, and new wine take away a heart of wisdom.
12 My people (AE)ask their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand declares to them;
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
And they have played the harlot, departing [g]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the (AF)tops of the mountains
And [h](AG)burn incense on the hills,
(AH)Under oak, poplar, and terebinth
Because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the harlot,
And your [i]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot
Or your [j]brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves go apart with harlots
And offer sacrifices with (AI)cult prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are [k]ruined.
15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Do not let Judah become guilty;
Also do not go to (AJ)Gilgal
Nor go up to Beth-aven
(AK)And swear the oath:
“As Yahweh lives!”
16 Since Israel is (AL)stubborn
Like a stubborn heifer,
[l]Can Yahweh now (AM)feed them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is joined to (AN)idols;
(AO)Let him alone.
18 Their drink gone;
They play the harlot continually;
(AP)Their [m]rulers dearly love disgrace.
19 (AQ)The wind binds them up in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Yahweh Withdraws from Israel
5 Hear this, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you,
For you have been a (AR)snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 And the (AS)revolters have (AT)dug deep into slaughtering,
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 Yahweh.
5 Moreover, the (AX)pride of Israel answers 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 Yahweh, but they will (BA)not find Him;
He has (BB)withdrawn from them.
7 They have (BC)dealt treacherously against Yahweh,
For they have borne (BD)children of strangers.
Now the (BE)new moon will devour them with their portions.
8 (BF)Blow the horn in (BG)Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah.
Make a loud shout at Beth-aven:
“(BH)Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become a (BI)desolation in the (BJ)day of reproof;
Among the tribes of Israel I (BK)will make known what is true.
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 [n]walk after man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a (BQ)moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 Then Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his sore,
So Ephraim went to (BR)Assyria
And sent to [o](BS)King Jareb.
But he is (BT)unable to heal you
Or to cure you of your sore.
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 [p](BX)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will (BY)seek Me earnestly.
Walk in Truth and Love
1 (A)The elder to the (B)elect (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 rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment 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 confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is (T)the deceiver and the (U)antichrist. 8 (V)See to yourselves, (W)that you do not lose what we 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 [c](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 [d]your (AB)joy may be made complete.
13 The children of your (AC)elect sister greet you.
Yahweh Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
Are as Mount Zion, which (A)will not be shaken but (B)will abide forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (C)Yahweh surrounds His people
(D)From now until forever.
3 For the (E)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [a]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (F)would not send forth their hands in unrighteousness.
9 When a wise man is brought into judgment with a man who is an ignorant fool,
[a]The ignorant fool both rages and laughs, and there is no rest.
10 Men of (A)bloodshed hate the blameless,
But the upright seek the well-being of his soul.
11 A (B)fool [b]lets out all of his spirit,
But a (C)wise man holds it back.
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