Hosea 9–11; Revelation 3

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Hosea 9–11

The Lord Will Punish Israel

Rejoice not, O Israel!

Exult not like the peoples;

efor you have played the whore, forsaking your God.

fYou have loved a prostitute’s wages

on all threshing floors.

gThreshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,

and gthe new wine shall fail them.

They shall not remain in hthe land of the Lord,

but iEphraim shall return to Egypt,

and jthey shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

kThey shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,

land their sacrifices shall not please him.

It shall be like mmourners’ bread to them;

all who eat of it shall be defiled;

for their bread shall be for their hunger only;

nit shall not come to the house of the Lord.

oWhat will you do on the day of the appointed festival,

and on the day of the feast of the Lord?

For behold, they are going away from destruction;

but pEgypt shall gather them;

Memphis shall bury them.

Nettles shall possess qtheir precious things of silver;

rthorns shall be in their tents.

sThe days of punishment have come;

the days of recompense have come;

Israel shall know it.

tThe prophet is a fool;

the man of the spirit is mad,

because of your great iniquity

and great hatred.

The prophet is uthe watchman of Ephraim with my God;

yet va fowler’s snare is on all his ways,

and hatred in the house of his God.

wThey have deeply corrupted themselves

as xin the days of Gibeah:

whe will remember their iniquity;

he will punish their sins.

10  Like grapes in the wilderness,

yI found Israel.

Like the first fruit on the fig tree

in its first season,

I saw your fathers.

But zthey came to Baal-peor

and aconsecrated themselves to the thing of shame,

and bbecame detestable like the thing they loved.

11  Ephraim’s cglory shall fly away like a bird

dno birth, no pregnancy, no conception!

12  eEven if they bring up children,

I will bereave them till none is left.

fWoe to them

when gI depart from them!

13  Ephraim, has I have seen, was like a young palm1 planted in a meadow;

but eEphraim must lead his children out to slaughter.2

14  Give them, O Lord

what will you give?

Give them ia miscarrying womb

and dry breasts.

15  Every evil of theirs is in jGilgal;

there I began to hate them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds

I will drive them out of my house.

I will love them no more;

all ktheir princes are lrebels.

16  Ephraim is stricken;

mtheir root is dried up;

they shall bear no fruit.

Even nthough they give birth,

eI will put their beloved children to death.

17  oMy God will reject them

because they have not listened to him;

pthey shall be wanderers among the nations.

qIsrael is a luxuriant vine

that yields its fruit.

The more his fruit increased,

rthe more altars he built;

as his country improved,

he improved his pillars.

Their heart is false;

now they must bear their guilt.

The Lord3 will break down their altars

and destroy their pillars.

For now they will say:

sWe have no king,

for we do not fear the Lord;

and a kingwhat could he do for us?

They utter tmere words;

with empty4 oaths they make covenants;

so ujudgment springs up like poisonous weeds

vin the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria tremble

for wthe calf5 of xBeth-aven.

Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests

those who rejoiced over it and yover its glory

for it has departed6 from them.

zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria

as tribute to athe great king.7

Ephraim shall be put to shame,

and Israel shall be ashamed bof his idol.8

cSamaria’s king shall perish

like a twig on the face of the waters.

The high places of xAven, dthe sin of Israel,

shall be destroyed.

eThorn and thistle shall grow up

on their altars,

and fthey shall say to the mountains, Cover us,

and to the hills, Fall on us.

From gthe days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;

there they have continued.

Shall not the war against the unjust9 overtake them in Gibeah?

10  hWhen I please, iI will discipline them,

and nations shall be gathered against them

when they are bound up for jtheir double iniquity.

11  Ephraim was a trained calf

that kloved to thresh,

and I spared her fair neck;

but I will put lEphraim to the yoke;

lJudah must plow;

Jacob must harrow for himself.

12  mSow for yourselves righteousness;

reap steadfast love;

nbreak up your fallow ground,

for it is the time to seek the Lord,

that he may come and orain righteousness upon you.

13  pYou have plowed iniquity;

you have reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your own way

and in the multitude of your warriors,

14  therefore qthe tumult of war shall arise among your people,

and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,

as rShalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;

smothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

15  Thus it shall be done to you, O tBethel,

because of your great evil.

At dawn athe king of Israel

shall be utterly cut off.

The Lord’s Love for Israel

uWhen Israel was a child, vI loved him,

and out of Egypt I wcalled xmy son.

yThe more they were called,

the more they went away;

zthey kept sacrificing to the Baals

and burning offerings to idols.

Yet it was aI who taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them up by their arms,

but they did not know that bI healed them.

cI led them with cords of kindness,10

with the bands of love,

and dI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and eI bent down to them and fed them.

fThey shall not11 return to the land of Egypt,

but gAssyria shall be their king,

hbecause ithey have refused to return to me.

jThe sword shall rage against their cities,

consume the bars of their gates,

and devour them kbecause of their own counsels.

My people are bent lon turning away from me,

and though mthey call out to the Most High,

he shall not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

nHow can I make you olike Admah?

How can I treat you olike Zeboiim?

pMy heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

qfor I am God and not a man,

rthe Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.12

10  sThey shall go after the Lord;

the will roar like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling ufrom the west;

11  they shall come trembling like birds vfrom Egypt,

and wlike doves xfrom the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.

12  13 Ephraim yhas surrounded me with lies,

and the house of Israel with deceit,

but Judah still walks with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.


Revelation 3

To the Church in Sardis

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: The words of him iwho has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your works. You have the reputation jof being alive, kbut you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works lcomplete in the sight of my God. mRemember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, nI will come olike a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not psoiled their garments, and they will walk with me qin white, for they are rworthy. sThe one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never tblot his name out of uthe book of life. vI will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: The words of wthe holy one, xthe true one, ywho has the key of David, zwho opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

I know your works. Behold, I have set before you aan open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of bthe synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but liebehold, cI will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that dI have loved you. 10 eBecause you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try fthose who dwell on the earth. 11 gI am coming soon. hHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize iyour crown. 12 jThe one who conquers, I will make him ka pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him lthe name of my God, and mthe name of the city of my God, mthe new Jerusalem, nwhich comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own onew name. 13 pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

14 And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the pAmen, qthe faithful and true witness, rthe beginning of God’s creation.

15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. sWould that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 tFor you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ublind, and naked. 18 I counsel you vto buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and wwhite garments so that you may clothe yourself and xthe shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, uso that you may see. 19 yThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and zknock. aIf anyone hears my voice and opens the door, bI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 cThe one who conquers, dI will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as eI also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.