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Bible (Berean Standard)/Hosea

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Hosea’s Wife and Children

This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”

So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”

After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.

Israel’s Adultery Rebuked

 * “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’
 * and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

 * Rebuke your mother,
 * rebuke her,
 * for she is not My wife,
 * and I am not her husband.
 * Let her remove the adultery from her face
 * and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
 * Otherwise, I will strip her naked
 * and expose her like the day of her birth.
 * I will make her like a desert
 * and turn her into a parched land,
 * and I will let her die of thirst.
 * I will have no compassion on her children,
 * because they are the children of adultery.
 * For their mother has played the harlot
 * and has conceived them in disgrace.
 * For she thought,
 * ‘I will go after my lovers,
 * who give me bread and water,
 * wool and linen, oil and drink.’

 * Therefore, behold,
 * I will hedge up her path with thorns;
 * I will enclose her with a wall,
 * so she cannot find her way.
 * She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;
 * she will seek them but not find them.
 * Then she will say,
 * ‘I will return to my first husband,
 * for then I was better off than now.’
 * For she does not acknowledge
 * that it was I who gave her grain,
 * new wine, and oil,
 * who lavished on her silver and gold—
 * which they crafted for Baal.

 * Therefore I will take back My grain in its time
 * and My new wine in its season;
 * I will take away My wool and linen,
 * which were given to cover her nakedness.
 * And then I will expose her lewdness
 * in the sight of her lovers,
 * and no one will deliver her
 * out of My hands.
 * I will put an end to all her exultation:
 * her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—
 * all her appointed feasts.
 * I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
 * which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers.
 * So I will make them into a thicket,
 * and the beasts of the field will devour them.
 * I will punish her for the days of the Baals
 * when she burned incense to them,
 * when she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
 * and went after her lovers.

 * But Me she forgot,”

declares the LORD.

God’s Mercy to Israel

 * “Therefore, behold, I will allure her
 * and lead her to the wilderness,
 * and speak to her tenderly.
 * There I will give back her vineyards
 * and make the Valley of Achor
 * into a gateway of hope.
 * There she will respond as she did
 * in the days of her youth,
 * as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
 * In that day,”
 * declares the LORD,
 * “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’
 * and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’
 * For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals;
 * no longer will their names be invoked.

 * On that day I will make a covenant for them
 * with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
 * and the creatures that crawl on the ground.
 * And I will abolish bow and sword
 * and weapons of war in the land,
 * and will make them lie down in safety.
 * So I will betroth you to Me forever;
 * I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
 * in loving devotion and compassion.
 * And I will betroth you in faithfulness,
 * and you will know the LORD.”

 * “On that day I will respond—”
 * declares the LORD—
 * “I will respond to the heavens,
 * and they will respond to the earth.
 * And the earth will respond to the grain,
 * to the new wine and oil,
 * and they will respond to Jezreel.
 * And I will sow her as My own in the land,
 * and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’
 * I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’
 * ‘You are My people,’
 * and they will say,
 * ‘You are my God.’”

Hosea Redeems His Wife

(Zechariah 2:6–13)

Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to idols. ”

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol. Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

God’s Case against His People

 * Hear the word of the LORD,
 * O children of Israel,
 * for the LORD has a case
 * against the people of the land:

 * “There is no truth, no loving devotion,
 * and no knowledge of God in the land!
 * Cursing and lying,
 * murder and stealing,
 * and adultery are rampant;
 * one act of bloodshed follows another.
 * Therefore the land mourns,
 * and all who dwell in it will waste away
 * with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air;
 * even the fish of the sea disappear.

 * But let no man contend;
 * let no man offer reproof;
 * for your people are like those
 * who contend with a priest.
 * You will stumble by day,
 * and the prophet will stumble with you by night;
 * so I will destroy your mother—
 * My people are destroyed
 * for lack of knowledge.
 * Because you have rejected knowledge,
 * I will also reject you as My priests.
 * Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
 * I will also forget your children.

 * The more they multiplied,
 * the more they sinned against Me;
 * they exchanged their Glory
 * for a thing of disgrace.
 * They feed on the sins of My people
 * and set their hearts on iniquity.
 * And it shall be
 * like people, like priest.
 * I will punish both of them for their ways
 * and repay them for their deeds.
 * They will eat but not be satisfied;
 * they will be promiscuous but not multiply.
 * For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

 * Promiscuity, wine, and new wine
 * take away understanding.
 * My people consult their wooden idols,
 * and their divining rods inform them.
 * For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray
 * and they have played the harlot against their God.
 * They sacrifice on the mountaintops
 * and burn offerings on the hills,
 * under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
 * because their shade is pleasant.
 * And so your daughters turn to prostitution
 * and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
 * I will not punish your daughters
 * when they prostitute themselves,
 * nor your daughters-in-law
 * when they commit adultery.
 * For the men themselves go off with prostitutes
 * and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes.
 * So a people without understanding
 * will come to ruin.

 * Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel,
 * may Judah avoid such guilt!
 * Do not journey to Gilgal,
 * do not go up to Beth-aven,
 * and do not swear on oath,
 * ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
 * For Israel is as obstinate
 * as a stubborn heifer.
 * Can the LORD now shepherd them
 * like lambs in an open meadow?
 * Ephraim is joined to idols;
 * leave him alone!
 * When their liquor is gone,
 * they turn to prostitution;
 * their rulers dearly love disgrace.
 * The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings,
 * and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Judgment on Israel and Judah

 * “Hear this, O priests!
 * Take heed, O house of Israel!
 * Give ear, O royal house!
 * For this judgment is against you
 * because you have been a snare at Mizpah,
 * a net spread out on Tabor.
 * The rebels are deep in slaughter;
 * but I will chastise them all.
 * I know all about Ephraim,
 * and Israel is not hidden from Me.
 * For now, O Ephraim,
 * you have turned to prostitution;
 * Israel is defiled.

 * Their deeds do not permit them
 * to return to their God,
 * for a spirit of prostitution is within them,
 * and they do not know the LORD.
 * Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
 * Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
 * even Judah stumbles with them.
 * They go with their flocks and herds
 * to seek the LORD,
 * but they do not find Him;
 * He has withdrawn Himself from them.
 * They have been unfaithful to the LORD;
 * for they have borne illegitimate children.
 * Now the New Moon will devour them
 * along with their land.

 * Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
 * the trumpet in Ramah;
 * raise the battle cry in Beth-aven:
 * Lead on, O Benjamin!
 * Ephraim will be laid waste
 * on the day of rebuke.
 * Among the tribes of Israel
 * I proclaim what is certain.
 * The princes of Judah
 * are like those who move boundary stones;
 * I will pour out My fury
 * upon them like water.
 * Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
 * for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
 * So I am like a moth to Ephraim,
 * and like decay to the house of Judah.

 * When Ephraim saw his sickness
 * and Judah his wound,
 * then Ephraim turned to Assyria
 * and sent to the great king.
 * But he cannot cure you
 * or heal your wound.
 * For I am like a lion to Ephraim
 * and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
 * I, even I, will tear them to pieces
 * and then go away.
 * I will carry them off
 * where no one can rescue them.
 * Then I will return to My place
 * until they admit their guilt and seek My face;
 * in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

The Unrepentance of Israel and Judah

 * Come, let us return to the LORD.

 * For He has torn us to pieces,
 * but He will heal us;
 * He has wounded us,
 * but He will bind up our wounds.
 * After two days He will revive us;
 * on the third day He will raise us up,
 * that we may live in His presence.
 * So let us know—
 * let us press on to know the LORD.
 * As surely as the sun rises,
 * He will appear;
 * He will come to us like the rain,
 * like the spring showers that water the earth.

 * What shall I do with you, O Ephraim ?
 * What shall I do with you, O Judah?
 * For your loyalty is like a morning mist,
 * like the early dew that vanishes.
 * Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
 * I have slain them by the words of My mouth,
 * and My judgments go forth like lightning.
 * For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
 * and the knowledge of God
 * rather than burnt offerings.

 * But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant;
 * there they were unfaithful to Me.
 * Gilead is a city of evildoers,
 * tracked with footprints of blood.
 * Like raiders who lie in ambush,
 * so does a band of priests;
 * they murder on the way to Shechem;
 * surely they have committed atrocities.
 * In the house of Israel
 * I have seen a horrible thing:
 * Ephraim practices prostitution there,
 * and Israel is defiled.

 * Also for you, O Judah,
 * a harvest is appointed,
 * when I restore
 * My people from captivity.

Ephraim’s Iniquity

 * When I heal Israel,
 * the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed,
 * as well as the crimes of Samaria.
 * For they practice deceit and thieves break in;
 * bandits raid in the streets.
 * But they fail to consider in their hearts
 * that I remember all their evil.
 * Now their deeds are all around them;
 * they are before My face.

 * They delight the king with their evil,
 * and the princes with their lies.
 * They are all adulterers,
 * like an oven heated by a baker
 * who needs not stoke the fire
 * from the kneading to the rising of the dough.
 * The princes are inflamed with wine
 * on the day of our king;
 * so he joins hands
 * with those who mock him.
 * For they prepare their heart like an oven
 * while they lie in wait;
 * all night their anger smolders;
 * in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
 * All of them are hot as an oven,
 * and they devour their rulers.
 * All their kings fall;
 * not one of them calls upon Me.

 * Ephraim mixes with the nations;
 * Ephraim is an unturned cake.
 * Foreigners consume his strength,
 * but he does not notice.
 * Even his hair is streaked with gray,
 * but he does not know.
 * Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,
 * yet they do not return to the LORD their God;
 * despite all this, they do not seek Him.

 * So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—
 * calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
 * As they go, I will spread My net over them;
 * I will bring them down like birds of the air.
 * I will chastise them
 * when I hear them flocking together.

 * Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
 * Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me!
 * Though I would redeem them,
 * they speak lies against Me.
 * They do not cry out to Me from their hearts
 * when they wail upon their beds.
 * They slash themselves for grain and new wine,
 * but turn away from Me.
 * Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
 * they plot evil against Me.
 * They turn, but not to the Most High;
 * they are like a faulty bow.
 * Their leaders will fall by the sword
 * for the cursing of their tongue;
 * for this they will be ridiculed
 * in the land of Egypt.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

 * Put the ram’s horn to your lips!
 * An eagle looms over the house of the LORD,
 * because the people have transgressed My covenant
 * and rebelled against My law.
 * Israel cries out to Me,
 * “O our God, we know You!”
 * But Israel has rejected good;
 * an enemy will pursue him.

 * They set up kings, but not by Me.
 * They make princes, but without My approval.
 * With their silver and gold they make themselves idols,
 * to their own destruction.
 * He has rejected your calf, O Samaria.
 * My anger burns against them.
 * How long will they be
 * incapable of innocence?
 * For this thing is from Israel—
 * a craftsman made it, and it is not God.
 * It will be broken to pieces,
 * that calf of Samaria.

 * For they sow the wind,
 * and they shall reap the whirlwind.
 * There is no standing grain;
 * what sprouts fails to yield flour.
 * Even if it should produce,
 * the foreigners would swallow it up.
 * Israel is swallowed up!
 * Now they are among the nations
 * like a worthless vessel.
 * For they have gone up to Assyria
 * like a wild donkey on its own.
 * Ephraim has hired lovers.
 * Though they hire allies among the nations,
 * I will now round them up,
 * and they will begin to diminish
 * under the oppression of the king of princes.

 * Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin,
 * they became his altars for sinning.
 * Though I wrote for them the great things of My law,
 * they regarded them as something strange.
 * Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me,
 * and though they eat the meat,
 * the LORD does not accept them.
 * Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins:
 * They will return to Egypt.
 * Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
 * Judah has multiplied its fortified cities.
 * But I will send fire upon their cities,
 * and it will consume their citadels.

Israel’s Punishment

 * Do not rejoice, O Israel,
 * with exultation like the nations,
 * for you have played the harlot against your God;
 * you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
 * The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them,
 * and the new wine will fail them.
 * They will not remain
 * in the land of the LORD;
 * Ephraim will return to Egypt
 * and eat unclean food in Assyria.

 * They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD,
 * and their sacrifices will not please Him,
 * but will be to them like the bread of mourners;
 * all who eat will be defiled.
 * For their bread will be for themselves;
 * it will not enter the house of the LORD.
 * What will you do on the appointed day,
 * on the day of the LORD’s feast?
 * For even if they flee destruction,
 * Egypt will gather them
 * and Memphis will bury them.
 * Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles,
 * and thorns will overrun their tents.

 * The days of punishment have come;
 * the days of retribution have arrived—
 * let Israel know it.
 * The prophet is called a fool,
 * and the inspired man insane,
 * because of the greatness
 * of your iniquity and hostility.
 * The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman,
 * along with my God,
 * yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths.
 * Hostility is in the house of his God!
 * They have deeply corrupted themselves
 * as in the days of Gibeah;
 * He will remember their guilt;
 * He will punish their sins.

 * I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.
 * I saw your fathers as the firstfruits
 * of the fig tree in its first season.
 * But they went to Baal-peor,
 * and consecrated themselves to Shame;
 * so they became as detestable
 * as the thing they loved.
 * Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird,
 * with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
 * Even if they raise their children,
 * I will bereave them of each one.
 * Yes, woe be to them
 * when I turn away from them!
 * I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
 * planted in a meadow.
 * But Ephraim will bring out
 * his children for slaughter.
 * Give them, O LORD—
 * what will You give?
 * Give them wombs that miscarry
 * and breasts that dry up!

 * All their evil appears at Gilgal,
 * for there I hated them.
 * I will drive them from My house
 * for the wickedness of their deeds.
 * I will no longer love them;
 * all their leaders are rebellious.
 * Ephraim is struck down;
 * their root is withered;
 * they cannot bear fruit.
 * Even if they bear children,
 * I will slay the darlings of their wombs.
 * My God will reject them
 * because they have not obeyed Him;
 * and they shall be wanderers
 * among the nations.

Retribution for Israel’s Sin

 * Israel was a luxuriant vine,
 * yielding fruit for himself.
 * The more his fruit increased,
 * the more he increased the altars.
 * The better his land produced,
 * the better he made the sacred pillars.
 * Their hearts are devious;
 * now they must bear their guilt.
 * The LORD will break down their altars
 * and demolish their sacred pillars.

 * Surely now they will say,
 * “We have no king,
 * for we do not revere the LORD.
 * What can a king do for us?”
 * They speak mere words;
 * with false oaths they make covenants.
 * So judgment springs up
 * like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

 * The people of Samaria will fear
 * for the calf of Beth-aven.
 * Indeed, its people will mourn
 * with its idolatrous priests—
 * those who rejoiced in its glory—
 * for it has been taken from them into exile.
 * Yes, it will be carried to Assyria
 * as tribute to the great king.
 * Ephraim will be seized with shame;
 * Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
 * Samaria will be carried off with her king
 * like a twig on the surface of the water.
 * The high places of Aven will be destroyed—
 * it is the sin of Israel;
 * thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.
 * Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
 * and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

 * Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel,
 * and there you have remained.
 * Did not the battle in Gibeah
 * overtake the sons of iniquity?
 * I will chasten them when I please;
 * nations will be gathered against them
 * to put them in bondage
 * for their double transgression.

 * Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh;
 * but I will place a yoke on her fair neck.
 * I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow,
 * and Jacob will break the hard ground.
 * Sow for yourselves righteousness
 * and reap the fruit of loving devotion;
 * break up your unplowed ground.
 * For it is time to seek the LORD
 * until He comes and sends righteousness
 * upon you like rain.

 * You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;
 * you have eaten the fruit of lies.
 * Because you have trusted in your own way
 * and in the multitude of your mighty men,
 * the roar of battle will rise against your people,
 * so that all your fortresses will be demolished
 * as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel
 * in the day of battle,
 * when mothers were dashed to pieces
 * along with their children.
 * Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel,
 * because of your great wickedness.
 * When the day dawns,
 * the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

Out of Egypt I Called My Son

(Matthew 2:13–15)

 * When Israel was a child, I loved him,
 * and out of Egypt I called My son.
 * But the more I called Israel,
 * the farther they departed from Me.
 * They sacrificed to the Baals
 * and burned incense to carved images.
 * It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
 * taking them in My arms,
 * but they never realized
 * that it was I who healed them.
 * I led them with cords of kindness,
 * with ropes of love;
 * I lifted the yoke from their necks
 * and bent down to feed them.
 * Will they not return to the land of Egypt
 * and be ruled by Assyria
 * because they refused to repent?
 * A sword will flash through their cities;
 * it will destroy the bars of their gates
 * and consume them in their own plans.
 * My people are bent on turning from Me.
 * Though they call to the Most High,
 * He will by no means exalt them.

God’s Love for Israel

 * How could I give you up, O Ephraim?
 * How could I surrender you, O Israel?
 * How could I make you like Admah?
 * How could I treat you like Zeboiim?
 * My heart is turned within Me;
 * My compassion is stirred!
 * I will not execute the full fury of My anger;
 * I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.
 * For I am God and not man—
 * the Holy One among you—
 * and I will not come in wrath.
 * They will walk after the LORD;
 * He will roar like a lion.
 * When He roars,
 * His children will come trembling from the west.
 * They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
 * and like doves from the land of Assyria.
 * Then I will settle them in their homes,
 * declares the LORD.

 * Ephraim surrounds Me with lies,
 * the house of Israel with deceit;
 * but Judah still walks with God
 * and is faithful to the Holy One.

A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob

 * Ephraim chases the wind
 * and pursues the east wind all day long;
 * he multiplies lies and violence;
 * he makes a covenant with Assyria
 * and sends olive oil to Egypt.

 * The LORD also brings a charge against Judah.
 * He will punish Jacob according to his ways
 * and repay him according to his deeds.
 * In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,
 * and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
 * Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed;
 * he wept and sought His favor;
 * he found Him at Bethel
 * and spoke with Him there —
 * the LORD is the God of Hosts—
 * the LORD is His name of renown.
 * But you must return to your God,
 * maintaining love and justice,
 * and always waiting on your God.

 * A merchant loves to defraud
 * with dishonest scales in his hands.
 * And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become!
 * I have found wealth for myself.
 * In all my labors, they can find in me
 * no iniquity that is sinful.”

 * But I am the LORD your God
 * ever since the land of Egypt.
 * I will again make you dwell in tents,
 * as in the days of the appointed feast.
 * I spoke through the prophets
 * and multiplied their visions;
 * I gave parables through the prophets.
 * Is there iniquity in Gilead?
 * They will surely come to nothing.
 * Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
 * Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones
 * in the furrows of the field.

 * Jacob fled to the land of Aram
 * and Israel worked for a wife—
 * for a wife he tended sheep.
 * But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
 * and by a prophet he was preserved.

 * Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,
 * so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him
 * and repay him for his contempt.

God’s Anger against Israel

 * When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
 * he was exalted in Israel.
 * But he incurred guilt through Baal,
 * and he died.

 * Now they sin more and more
 * and make for themselves cast images,
 * idols skillfully made from their silver,
 * all of them the work of craftsmen.
 * People say of them,
 * “They offer human sacrifice
 * and kiss the calves!”
 * Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
 * like the early dew that vanishes,
 * like chaff blown from a threshing floor,
 * like smoke through an open window.

 * Yet I am the LORD your God
 * ever since the land of Egypt;
 * you know no God but Me,
 * for there is no Savior besides Me.
 * I knew you in the wilderness,
 * in the land of drought.
 * When they had pasture,
 * they became satisfied;
 * when they were satisfied,
 * their hearts became proud,
 * and as a result they forgot Me.
 * So like a lion I will pounce on them;
 * like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
 * Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them,
 * and I will tear open their chests.
 * There I will devour them like a lion,
 * like a wild beast would tear them apart.

Death and Resurrection

(1 Corinthians 15:50–58)

 * You are destroyed, O Israel,
 * because you are against Me—
 * against your helper.

 * Where is your king now
 * to save you in all your cities,
 * and the rulers to whom you said,
 * “Give me a king and princes”?
 * So in My anger I gave you a king,
 * and in My wrath I took him away.

 * The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
 * his sin is stored up.
 * Labor pains come upon him,
 * but he is an unwise son.
 * When the time arrives,
 * he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.

 * I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;
 * I will redeem them from Death.
 * Where, O Death, are your plagues?
 * Where, O Sheol, is your sting?

 * Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Judgment on Samaria

 * Although he flourishes among his brothers,
 * an east wind will come—
 * a wind from the LORD
 * rising up from the desert.
 * His fountain will fail,
 * and his spring will run dry.
 * The wind will plunder his treasury
 * of every precious article.

 * Samaria will bear her guilt
 * because she has rebelled against her God.
 * They will fall by the sword;
 * their little ones will be dashed to pieces,
 * and their pregnant women ripped open.

A Call to Repentance

(Jeremiah 3:11–25; Zechariah 1:1–6)

 * Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
 * for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
 * Bring your confessions
 * and return to the LORD.
 * Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity
 * and receive us graciously,
 * that we may present
 * the fruit of our lips.
 * Assyria will not save us,
 * nor will we ride on horses.
 * We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’
 * to the work of our own hands.

 * For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

A Promise of God’s Blessing

 * I will heal their apostasy;
 * I will freely love them,
 * for My anger has turned away from them.
 * I will be like the dew to Israel;
 * he will blossom like the lily
 * and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
 * His shoots will sprout,
 * and his splendor will be like the olive tree,
 * his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
 * They will return and dwell in his shade;
 * they will grow grain and blossom like the vine.
 * His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

 * O Ephraim, what have I to do
 * anymore with idols?
 * It is I who answer and watch over him.
 * I am like a flourishing cypress;
 * your fruit comes from Me.

 * Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
 * whoever is discerning, let him know them.
 * For the ways of the LORD are right,
 * and the righteous walk in them
 * but the rebellious stumble in them.

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Hosea


text:
Page:Pentagon-Papers-Part IV. C. 2. a.djvu/68

Rh

seemed to anticipate short-term impacts on South Vietnam, rather than ultimate effects on the DRV. On the way to Honolulu, Secretary Rusk had talked with General Khanh, who argued that South Vietnam could not win against the Viet Cong without some military action outside its borders. In particular, the General urged clearing out the communist forces in eastern Laos, who might move across the border and attempt to cut South Vietnam in two, with the implication that GN forces could carry out the task if given air support. He also favored attacks directly on North Vietnam, but said that they "should be selective and designed to minimize the chances of a drastic communist response."

At the conference's initial plenary session, Ambassador Lodge also argued in favor of attacks on the North. In answer to Secretary Rusk's query about South Vietnamese popular attitudes, which supported Hanoi's revolutionary aims, the Ambassador stated his conviction that most support for the VC would fade as soon as some "counter-terrorism measures" were begun against the DRV. He urged "a selective bombing campaign against military targets in the North" and predicted this would "bolster morale and give the population in the South a feeling of unity." When asked by Mr. McCone how the political differences among, Vietnamese leaders might be overcome, he stated the opinion that "if we bombed Ichepone or attacked the [[NVN motor torpedo] boats and the Vietnamese people knew about it, this would tend to stimulate their morale, unify their efforts and reduce [their] quarrelling."

If other comments, either pro or con, were made at the plenary session about the desirability of attacking North Vietnam, they were not reflected in the record. General Westmoreland discussed the "military and security situation" in South Vietnam and apparently did not mention the potential impact of measures against the North. Similar discussions of the military situations in Laos and Cambodia apparently did not include the subject either. The discussion of North Vietnam, as indicated by the record, was limited to assessments of the DRV's military capabilities, particularly its air defenses, and their implications for the feasibility of an air attack. Policy aspects of air operations against the North were not mentioned

On the second day of the conference, possible pressures to be applied against North Vietnam were a prominent subject. However, as reported by William Bundy, the main context for the discussion was Laos -- what might have to be done in the event the current diplomatic track failed or the military situation deteriorated. Not contemplated, it seems, were initiatives against the North to relieve the current levels of pressure on Laos or South Vietnam. Steps that would need to be taken in order to prepare for actions necessary within the context of a Laotian military contingency.

One such step would be consultation with allies who might contribute to a ground force contingent needed for the defense of Laos. The UK and other SEATO nations were cited as particularly important contributors. The conferees agreed, however, that contingency preparations for Laos should Rh

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Highland Mary

 * "Highland Mary", a song by Robert Burns
 * "Highland Mary", a song by Caroline Norton

title: Highland Mary


text:
Bible (Berean Standard)/Joel

1 · 2 · 3

The Invasion of Locusts

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

 * Hear this, O elders;
 * and give ear, all who dwell in the land.
 * Has anything like this ever happened in your days
 * or in the days of your fathers?
 * Tell it to your children;
 * let your children tell it to their children,
 * and their children to the next generation.
 * What the devouring locust has left,
 * the swarming locust has eaten;
 * what the swarming locust has left,
 * the young locust has eaten;
 * and what the young locust has left,
 * the destroying locust has eaten.

 * Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;
 * wail, all you drinkers of wine,
 * because of the sweet wine,
 * for it has been cut off from your mouth.
 * For a nation has invaded My land,
 * powerful and without number;
 * its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
 * and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.
 * It has laid waste My grapevine
 * and splintered My fig tree.
 * It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away;
 * the branches have turned white.

A Call to Mourning

 * Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth,
 * grieving for the husband of her youth.
 * Grain and drink offerings have been cut off
 * from the house of the LORD;
 * the priests are in mourning,
 * those who minister before the LORD.
 * The field is ruined;
 * the land mourns.
 * For the grain is destroyed,
 * the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
 * Be dismayed, O farmers,
 * wail, O vinedressers,
 * over the wheat and barley,
 * because the harvest of the field has perished.
 * The grapevine is dried up,
 * and the fig tree is withered;
 * the pomegranate, palm, and apple—
 * all the trees of the orchard—are withered.
 * Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

A Call to Repentance

(Amos 5:4–15; Zephaniah 2:1–3; Luke 13:1–5)

 * Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;
 * wail, O ministers of the altar.
 * Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
 * O ministers of my God,
 * because the grain and drink offerings
 * are withheld from the house of your God.
 * Consecrate a fast;
 * proclaim a solemn assembly!
 * Gather the elders
 * and all the residents of the land
 * to the house of the LORD your God,
 * and cry out to the LORD.

 * Alas for the day!
 * For the Day of the LORD is near,
 * and it will come
 * as destruction from the Almighty.
 * Has not the food been cut off
 * before our very eyes—
 * joy and gladness
 * from the house of our God?
 * The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods;
 * the storehouses are in ruins;
 * the granaries are broken down,
 * for the grain has withered away.
 * How the cattle groan!
 * The herds wander in confusion
 * because they have no pasture.
 * Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

 * To You, O LORD, I call,
 * for fire has consumed the open pastures
 * and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
 * Even the beasts of the field pant for You,
 * for the streams of water have dried up,
 * and fire has consumed the open pastures.

The Army of Locusts

(Amos 7:1–9)

 * Blow the ram’s horn in Zion;
 * sound the alarm on My holy mountain!
 * Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
 * for the Day of the LORD is coming;
 * indeed, it is near—
 * a day of darkness and gloom,
 * a day of clouds and blackness.
 * Like the dawn overspreading the mountains
 * a great and strong army appears,
 * such as never was of old,
 * nor will ever be in ages to come.

 * Before them a fire devours,
 * and behind them a flame scorches.
 * The land before them is like the Garden of Eden,
 * but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—
 * surely nothing will escape them.
 * Their appearance is like that of horses,
 * and they gallop like swift steeds.
 * With a sound like that of chariots
 * they bound over the mountaintops,
 * like the crackling of fire consuming stubble,
 * like a mighty army deployed for battle.

 * Nations writhe in horror before them;
 * every face turns pale.
 * They charge like mighty men;
 * they scale the walls like men of war.
 * Each one marches in formation,
 * not swerving from the course.
 * They do not jostle one another;
 * each proceeds in his path.
 * They burst through the defenses,
 * never breaking ranks.
 * They storm the city;
 * they run along the wall;
 * they climb into houses,
 * entering through windows like thieves.

 * Before them the earth quakes;
 * the heavens tremble.
 * The sun and moon grow dark,
 * and the stars lose their brightness.
 * The LORD raises His voice
 * in the presence of His army.
 * Indeed, His camp is very large,
 * for mighty are those who obey His command.
 * For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful.
 * Who can endure it?

Return with All Your Heart

 * “Yet even now,”
 * declares the LORD,
 * “return to Me with all your heart,
 * with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

 * So rend your hearts and not your garments,
 * and return to the LORD your God.
 * For He is gracious and compassionate,
 * slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
 * And He relents from sending disaster.
 * Who knows? He may turn and relent
 * and leave a blessing behind Him—
 * grain and drink offerings
 * for the LORD your God.

 * Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
 * consecrate a fast,
 * proclaim a sacred assembly.
 * Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
 * assemble the aged, gather the children,
 * even those nursing at the breast.
 * Let the bridegroom leave his room,
 * and the bride her chamber.
 * Let the priests who minister before the LORD
 * weep between the portico and the altar,
 * saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD,
 * and do not make Your heritage a reproach,
 * an object of scorn among the nations.
 * Why should they say among the peoples,
 * ‘Where is their God?’”

Restoration Promised

 * Then the LORD became jealous for His land,
 * and He spared His people.

 * And the LORD answered His people:

 * “Behold, I will send you
 * grain, new wine, and oil,
 * and by them you will be satisfied.
 * I will never again make you
 * a reproach among the nations.

 * The northern army I will drive away from you,
 * banishing it to a barren and desolate land,
 * its front ranks into the Eastern Sea,
 * and its rear guard into the Western Sea.
 * And its stench will rise;
 * its foul odor will ascend.

 * For He has done great things.

 * Do not be afraid, O land;
 * rejoice and be glad,
 * for the LORD has done great things.
 * Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field,
 * for the open pastures have turned green,
 * the trees bear their fruit,
 * and the fig tree and vine yield their best.
 * Be glad, O children of Zion,
 * and rejoice in the LORD your God,
 * for He has given you the autumn rains
 * for your vindication.
 * He sends you showers,
 * both autumn and spring rains, as before.
 * The threshing floors will be full of grain,
 * and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

 * I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—
 * the swarming locust, the young locust,
 * the destroying locust, and the devouring locust —
 * My great army that I sent against you.
 * You will have plenty to eat,
 * until you are satisfied.
 * You will praise the name of the LORD your God,
 * who has worked wonders for you.
 * My people will never again
 * be put to shame.
 * Then you will know that I am present in Israel
 * and that I am the LORD your God,
 * and there is no other.
 * My people will never again
 * be put to shame.

I Will Pour Out My Spirit

(Acts 2:14–36)

 * And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.
 * Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
 * your old men will dream dreams,
 * your young men will see visions.
 * Even on My menservants and maidservants,
 * I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
 * I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
 * blood and fire and columns of smoke.
 * The sun will be turned to darkness
 * and the moon to blood
 * before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
 * And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD
 * will be saved;
 * for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
 * there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised,
 * among the remnant called by the LORD.

The LORD Judges the Nations

 * “Yes, in those days and at that time,
 * when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
 * I will gather all the nations
 * and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
 * There I will enter into judgment against them
 * concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel,
 * whom they have scattered among the nations
 * as they divided up My land.
 * They cast lots for My people;
 * they bartered a boy for a prostitute
 * and sold a girl for wine to drink.

Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads. For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.

Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.”

Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

Proclaim this among the nations:

 * “Prepare for war;
 * rouse the mighty men;
 * let all the men of war
 * advance and attack!
 * Beat your plowshares into swords
 * and your pruning hooks into spears.
 * Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’
 * Come quickly, all you surrounding nations,
 * and gather yourselves.
 * Bring down Your mighty ones,
 * O LORD.

 * Let the nations be roused
 * and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
 * for there I will sit down
 * to judge all the nations on every side.
 * Swing the sickle,
 * for the harvest is ripe.
 * Come, trample the grapes,
 * for the winepress is full;
 * the wine vats overflow
 * because their wickedness is great.

 * Multitudes, multitudes
 * in the valley of decision!
 * For the Day of the LORD is near
 * in the valley of decision.
 * The sun and moon will grow dark,
 * and the stars will no longer shine.
 * The LORD will roar from Zion
 * and raise His voice from Jerusalem;
 * heaven and earth will tremble.
 * But the LORD will be a refuge for His people,
 * a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People

 * Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,
 * who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.
 * Jerusalem will be holy,
 * never again to be overrun by foreigners.

 * And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
 * and the hills will flow with milk.
 * All the streams of Judah will run with water,
 * and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD
 * to water the Valley of Acacias.
 * Egypt will become desolate,
 * and Edom a desert wasteland,
 * because of the violence done to the people of Judah,
 * in whose land they shed innocent blood.
 * But Judah will be inhabited forever,
 * and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
 * For I will avenge their blood,
 * which I have not yet avenged. ”

For the LORD dwells in Zion.

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Joel


text:
Bible (Berean Standard)/Amos

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

(Jeremiah 12:14–17)

These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. He said:

 * “The LORD roars from Zion
 * and raises His voice from Jerusalem;
 * the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
 * and the summit of Carmel withers.”

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they threshed Gilead
 * with sledges of iron.
 * So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael
 * to consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.
 * I will break down the gates of Damascus;
 * I will cut off the ruler of the Valley of Aven
 * and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden.
 * The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”

says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they exiled a whole population,
 * delivering them up to Edom.
 * So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza,
 * to consume its citadels.
 * I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod
 * and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon.
 * I will turn My hand against Ekron,
 * and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,”

says the Lord GOD.

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom
 * and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
 * So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre
 * to consume its citadels.”

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Edom, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because he pursued his brother with the sword
 * and stifled all compassion;
 * his anger raged continually,
 * and his fury flamed incessantly.
 * So I will send fire upon Teman
 * to consume the citadels of Bozrah.”

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
 * in order to enlarge their territory.
 * So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah
 * to consume its citadels
 * amid war cries on the day of battle
 * and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
 * Their king will go into exile —
 * he and his princes together,”

says the LORD.

Judgment on Moab, Judah, and Israel

This is what the LORD says:
 * “For three transgressions of Moab, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because he burned to lime
 * the bones of Edom’s king.
 * So I will send fire against Moab
 * to consume the citadels of Kerioth.
 * Moab will die in tumult,
 * amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn.
 * I will cut off the ruler of Moab
 * and kill all the officials with him,”

says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Judah, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they reject the Law of the LORD
 * and fail to keep His statutes;
 * they are led astray by the lies
 * in which their fathers walked.
 * So I will send fire upon Judah
 * to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

This is what the LORD says:

 * “For three transgressions of Israel, even four,
 * I will not revoke My judgment,
 * because they sell the righteous for silver
 * and the needy for a pair of sandals.
 * They trample on the heads of the poor
 * as on the dust of the earth;
 * they push the needy out of their way.
 * A man and his father
 * have relations with the same girl
 * and so profane My holy name.
 * They lie down beside every altar
 * on garments taken in pledge.
 * And in the house of their God,
 * they drink wine obtained through fines.

 * Yet it was I who destroyed
 * the Amorite before them,
 * though his height was like that of the cedars,
 * and he was as strong as the oaks.
 * Yet I destroyed his fruit above
 * and his roots below.
 * And I brought you up from the land of Egypt
 * and led you forty years in the wilderness,
 * that you might take possession
 * of the land of the Amorite.
 * I raised up prophets from your sons
 * and Nazirites from your young men.
 * Is this not true,
 * O children of Israel?”

declares the LORD.
 * “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
 * and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
 * Behold, I am about to crush you in your place
 * as with a cart full of grain.
 * Escape will fail the swift,
 * the strong will not prevail by his strength,
 * and the mighty will not save his life.
 * The archer will not stand his ground,
 * the fleet of foot will not escape,
 * and the horseman will not save his life.
 * Even the bravest of mighty men
 * will flee naked on that day,”

declares the LORD.

Witnesses against Israel

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

 * “Only you have I known
 * from all the families of the earth;
 * therefore I will punish you
 * for all your iniquities.”

 * Can two walk together
 * without agreeing where to go?
 * Does a lion roar in the forest
 * when he has no prey?
 * Does a young lion growl in his den
 * if he has caught nothing?
 * Does a bird land in a snare
 * where no bait has been set?
 * Does a trap spring from the ground
 * when it has nothing to catch?
 * If a ram’s horn sounds in a city,
 * do the people not tremble?
 * If calamity comes to a city,
 * has not the LORD caused it?

 * Surely the Lord GOD does nothing
 * without revealing His plan
 * to His servants the prophets.
 * The lion has roared—
 * who will not fear?
 * The Lord GOD has spoken—
 * who will not prophesy?

 * Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod
 * and to the citadels of Egypt:
 * “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;
 * see the great unrest in the city
 * and the acts of oppression in her midst.”

 * “For they know not how to do right,”
 * declares the LORD.
 * “They store up violence and destruction
 * in their citadels.”

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * “An enemy will surround the land;
 * he will pull down your strongholds
 * and plunder your citadels.”

This is what the LORD says:

 * “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion
 * two legs or a piece of an ear,
 * so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued
 * having just the corner of a bed
 * or the cushion of a couch.

 * Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,
 * declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.
 * On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,
 * I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;
 * the horns of the altar will be cut off,
 * and they will fall to the ground.
 * I will tear down the winter house
 * along with the summer house;
 * the houses of ivory will also perish,
 * and the great houses will come to an end,”

declares the LORD.

Punishment Brings No Repentance

 * Hear this word,
 * you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
 * you women who oppress the poor
 * and crush the needy,
 * who say to your husbands,
 * “Bring us more to drink.”

The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:

 * “Behold, the days are coming
 * when you will be taken away with hooks,
 * and your posterity with fishhooks.
 * You will go out through broken walls,
 * each one straight ahead of her,
 * and you will be cast out toward Harmon, ”

declares the LORD.
 * “Go to Bethel and transgress;
 * rebel even more at Gilgal!
 * Bring your sacrifices every morning,
 * your tithes every three days.
 * Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,
 * and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.
 * For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”

declares the Lord GOD.
 * “I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth
 * and all your towns with lack of bread,
 * yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.
 * “I also withheld the rain from you
 * when the harvest was three months away.
 * I sent rain on one city
 * but withheld it from another.
 * One field received rain;
 * another without rain withered.
 * People staggered from city to city
 * for water to drink,
 * but they were not satisfied;
 * yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.
 * “I struck you with blight and mildew
 * in your growing gardens and vineyards;
 * the locust devoured your fig and olive trees,
 * yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.
 * “I sent plagues among you
 * like those of Egypt;
 * I killed your young men with the sword,
 * along with your captured horses.
 * I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp,
 * yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.
 * “Some of you I overthrew
 * as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
 * and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze,
 * yet you did not return to Me,”

declares the LORD.
 * “Therefore, that is what I will do
 * to you, O Israel,
 * and since I will do this to you,
 * prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
 * For behold, He who forms the mountains,
 * who creates the wind
 * and reveals His thoughts to man,
 * who turns the dawn to darkness
 * and strides on the heights of the earth—
 * the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”

A Lamentation against Israel

Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:

 * “Fallen is Virgin Israel,
 * never to rise again.
 * She lies abandoned on her land,
 * with no one to raise her up.”

This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * “The city that marches out a thousand strong
 * will only see a hundred return,
 * and the one that marches out a hundred strong
 * will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”

A Call to Repentance

(Joel 1:13–20; Zephaniah 2:1–3; Luke 13:1–5)

For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel:

 * “Seek Me and live!

 * Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal;
 * do not journey to Beersheba,
 * for Gilgal will surely go into exile,
 * and Bethel will come to nothing.
 * Seek the LORD and live,
 * or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph;
 * it will devour everything,
 * with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

 * There are those who turn justice into wormwood
 * and cast righteousness to the ground.

 * He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
 * who turns darkness into dawn
 * and darkens day into night,
 * who summons the waters of the sea
 * and pours them over the face of the earth—
 * the LORD is His name—
 * He flashes destruction on the strong,
 * so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

 * There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate
 * and despise him who speaks with integrity.
 * Therefore, because you trample on the poor
 * and exact from him a tax of grain,
 * you will never live
 * in the stone houses you have built;
 * you will never drink the wine
 * from the lush vineyards you have planted.

 * For I know that your transgressions are many
 * and your sins are numerous.
 * You oppress the righteous by taking bribes;
 * you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
 * Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times,
 * for the days are evil.

 * Seek good, not evil,
 * so that you may live.
 * And the LORD, the God of Hosts,
 * will be with you, as you have claimed.
 * Hate evil and love good;
 * establish justice in the gate.
 * Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts,
 * will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Woe to Rebellious Israel

(Acts 7:39–43)

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says:

 * “There will be wailing in all the public squares
 * and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets.
 * The farmer will be summoned to mourn,
 * and the mourners to wail.
 * There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
 * for I will pass through your midst,”

says the LORD.
 * Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD!
 * What will the Day of the LORD be for you?
 * It will be darkness and not light.
 * It will be like a man who flees from a lion,
 * only to encounter a bear,
 * or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall,
 * only to be bitten by a snake.
 * Will not the Day of the LORD
 * be darkness and not light,
 * even gloom with no brightness in it?

 * “I hate, I despise your feasts!
 * I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
 * Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
 * I will not accept them;
 * for your peace offerings of fattened cattle
 * I will have no regard.
 * Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
 * I will not listen to the music of your harps.
 * But let justice roll on like a river,
 * and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 * Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings
 * forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
 * You have taken along Sakkuth your king
 * and Kaiwan your star god,
 * the idols you made for yourselves.
 * Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”
 * says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

(Luke 6:24–26)

 * Woe to those at ease in Zion
 * and those secure on Mount Samaria,
 * the distinguished ones of the foremost nation,
 * to whom the house of Israel comes.
 * Cross over to Calneh and see;
 * go from there to the great Hamath;
 * then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
 * Are you better than these kingdoms?
 * Is their territory larger than yours?

 * You dismiss the day of calamity
 * and bring near a reign of violence.
 * You lie on beds inlaid with ivory,
 * and lounge upon your couches.
 * You dine on lambs from the flock
 * and calves from the stall.
 * You improvise songs on the harp like David
 * and invent your own musical instruments.
 * You drink wine by the bowlful
 * and anoint yourselves with the finest oils,
 * but you fail to grieve
 * over the ruin of Joseph.

 * Therefore, you will now go into exile
 * as the first of the captives,
 * and your feasting and lounging
 * will come to an end.

The Pride of Israel

The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared:

 * “I abhor Jacob’s pride
 * and detest his citadels,
 * so I will deliver up the city
 * and everything in it.”

And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die. And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?”

“None,” that person will answer.

“Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.” For the LORD gives a command:

 * “The great house will be smashed to pieces,
 * and the small house to rubble.”

 * “Do horses gallop on the cliffs?
 * Does one plow the sea with oxen?
 * But you have turned justice into poison
 * and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
 * you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say,
 * ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’
 * For behold, I will raise up a nation
 * against you, O house of Israel,”

declares the LORD, the God of Hosts,
 * “and they will oppress you
 * from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”

The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line

(Joel 2:1–11)

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up. And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD.

“A plumb line,” I replied.

“Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:

 * The high places of Isaac will be deserted,
 * and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste;
 * and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam
 * with My sword.”

Amaziah Accuses Amos

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words, for this is what Amos has said:

 * ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
 * and Israel will surely go into exile,
 * away from their homeland.’”

And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”

“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say:

 * ‘Do not prophesy against Israel;
 * do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

 * ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
 * and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
 * Your land will be divided by a measuring line,
 * and you yourself will die on pagan soil.
 * And Israel will surely go into exile,
 * away from their homeland.’”

The Basket of Summer Fruit

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit.

“Amos, what do you see?” He asked.

“A basket of summer fruit,” I replied.

So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”

“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”

 * Hear this, you who trample the needy,
 * who do away with the poor of the land,
 * asking, “When will the New Moon be over,
 * that we may sell grain?
 * When will the Sabbath end,
 * that we may market wheat?
 * Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel;
 * let us cheat with dishonest scales.
 * Let us buy the poor with silver
 * and the needy for a pair of sandals,
 * selling even the chaff with the wheat!”

The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob:

 * “I will never forget any of their deeds.

 * Will not the land quake for this,
 * and all its dwellers mourn?
 * All of it will swell like the Nile;
 * it will surge and then subside
 * like the Nile in Egypt.

 * And in that day,
 * declares the Lord GOD,
 * I will make the sun go down at noon,
 * and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
 * I will turn your feasts into mourning
 * and all your songs into lamentation.
 * I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth
 * and every head to be shaved.
 * I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,
 * and its outcome like a bitter day.

 * Behold, the days are coming,
 * declares the Lord GOD,
 * when I will send a famine on the land—
 * not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
 * but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
 * People will stagger from sea to sea
 * and roam from north to east,
 * seeking the word of the LORD,
 * but they will not find it.
 * In that day the lovely young women—
 * the young men as well—
 * will faint from thirst.
 * Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria
 * and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’
 * or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—
 * they will fall, never to rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said:

 * “Strike the tops of the pillars
 * so that the thresholds shake.
 * Topple them on the heads of all the people,
 * and I will kill the rest with the sword.
 * None of those who flee will get away;
 * none of the fugitives will escape.
 * Though they dig down to Sheol,
 * from there My hand will take them;
 * and though they climb up to heaven,
 * from there I will pull them down.
 * Though they hide themselves atop Carmel,
 * there I will track them and seize them;
 * and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea,
 * there I will command the serpent to bite them.
 * Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity,
 * there I will command the sword to slay them.
 * I will fix My eyes upon them
 * for harm and not for good.”

 * The Lord GOD of Hosts,
 * He who touches the earth and it melts,
 * and all its dwellers mourn—
 * all the land rises like the Nile,
 * then sinks like the river of Egypt—
 * He builds His upper rooms in the heavens
 * and founds His vault upon the earth.
 * He summons the waters of the sea
 * and pours them over the face of the earth.
 * The LORD is His name.

 * “Are you not like the Cushites to Me,
 * O children of Israel?”

declares the LORD.
 * “Did I not bring Israel
 * up from the land of Egypt,
 * the Philistines from Caphtor,
 * and the Arameans from Kir?
 * Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD
 * are on the sinful kingdom,
 * and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
 * Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

declares the LORD.
 * “For surely I will give the command,
 * and I will shake the house of Israel
 * among all the nations
 * as grain is sifted in a sieve;
 * but not a pebble will reach the ground.
 * All the sinners among My people
 * will die by the sword—
 * all those who say,
 * ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”

A Promise of Restoration

(Acts 15:5–21)

 * “In that day I will restore
 * the fallen tent of David.
 * I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins,
 * and rebuild it as in the days of old,
 * that they may possess the remnant of Edom
 * and all the nations that bear My name,”

declares the LORD, who will do this.
 * “Behold, the days are coming,”
 * declares the LORD,
 * “when the plowman will overtake the reaper
 * and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed.
 * The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
 * with which all the hills will flow.
 * I will restore My people Israel from captivity;
 * they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities.
 * They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
 * they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
 * I will firmly plant them in their own land,
 * never again to be uprooted
 * from the land that I have given them,”

says the LORD your God.

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Amos


text:
Bible (Berean Standard)/Obadiah

1

The Destruction of Edom

(Jeremiah 49:7–22)

This is the vision of Obadiah:

 * This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom—

 * We have heard a message from the LORD;
 * an envoy has been sent among the nations
 * to say, “Rise up,
 * and let us go to battle against her!”—

 * “Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
 * you will be deeply despised.
 * The pride of your heart has deceived you,
 * O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks
 * whose habitation is the heights,
 * who say in your heart,
 * ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
 * Though you soar like the eagle
 * and make your nest among the stars,
 * even from there I will bring you down,”

declares the LORD.
 * “If thieves came to you,
 * if robbers by night—
 * oh, how you will be ruined—
 * would they not steal only what they wanted?
 * If grape gatherers came to you,
 * would they not leave some gleanings?
 * But how Esau will be pillaged,
 * his hidden treasures sought out!
 * All the men allied with you
 * will drive you to the border;
 * the men at peace with you
 * will deceive and overpower you.
 * Those who eat your bread
 * will set a trap for you
 * without your awareness of it.
 * In that day, declares the LORD,
 * will I not destroy the wise men of Edom
 * and the men of understanding
 * in the mountains of Esau?
 * Then your mighty men, O Teman,
 * will be terrified,
 * so that everyone in the mountains of Esau
 * will be cut down in the slaughter.

 * Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
 * you will be covered with shame
 * and cut off forever.
 * On the day you stood aloof
 * while strangers carried off his wealth
 * and foreigners entered his gate
 * and cast lots for Jerusalem,
 * you were just like one of them.
 * But you should not gloat in that day,
 * your brother’s day of misfortune,
 * nor rejoice over the people of Judah
 * in the day of their destruction,
 * nor boast proudly
 * in the day of their distress.
 * You should not enter the gate of My people
 * in the day of their disaster,
 * nor gloat over their affliction
 * in the day of their disaster,
 * nor loot their wealth
 * in the day of their disaster.
 * Nor should you stand at the crossroads
 * to cut off their fugitives,
 * nor deliver up their survivors
 * in the day of their distress.

The Deliverance of Israel

 * For the Day of the LORD is near
 * for all the nations.
 * As you have done, it will be done to you;
 * your recompense will return upon your own head.
 * For as you drank on My holy mountain,
 * so all the nations will drink continually.
 * They will drink and gulp it down;
 * they will be as if they had never existed.
 * But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance,
 * and it will be holy,
 * and the house of Jacob
 * will reclaim their possession.
 * Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire,
 * and the house of Joseph a burning flame;
 * but the house of Esau will be stubble—
 * Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it.
 * Therefore no survivor will remain
 * from the house of Esau.”

For the LORD has spoken.
 * Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau;
 * those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines.
 * They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
 * and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
 * And the exiles of this host of the Israelites
 * will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath;
 * and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
 * will possess the cities of the Negev.
 * The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion
 * to rule over the mountains of Esau.

 * And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Obadiah


text:
Bible (Berean Standard)/Jonah

1 · 2 · 3 · 4

Jonah Flees from the LORD

(Nahum 1:1–15)

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

The Great Storm

(Acts 27:13–26)

Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.”

So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

“Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”

“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Jonah Cast into the Sea

Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”

“Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.

So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”

At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.

Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Jonah’s Prayer

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, saying:

 * “In my distress I called to the LORD,
 * and He answered me.
 * From the belly of Sheol I called for help,
 * and You heard my voice.
 * For You cast me into the deep,
 * into the heart of the seas,
 * and the current swirled about me;
 * all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
 * At this, I said,
 * ‘I have been banished from Your sight;
 * yet I will look once more
 * toward Your holy temple.’

 * The waters engulfed me
 * to take my life;
 * the watery depths closed around me;
 * the seaweed wrapped around my head.
 * To the roots of the mountains I descended;
 * the earth beneath me barred me in forever!
 * But You raised my life from the pit,
 * O LORD my God!

 * As my life was fading away,
 * I remembered the LORD.
 * My prayer went up to You,
 * to Your holy temple.
 * Those who cling to worthless idols
 * forsake His loving devotion.
 * But I, with the voice of thanksgiving,
 * will sacrifice to You.
 * I will fulfill what I have vowed.
 * Salvation is from the LORD!”

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The Ninevites Repent

(Matthew 12:38–42; Luke 11:29–32)

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD.

Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey. On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Compassion

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?”

“I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night. So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Jonah


text: The Proletarian Revolution in Russia/Part 3/Chapter 5


text: The Proletarian Revolution in Russia/Part 3/Chapter 6


text:
Bible (Berean Standard)/Micah

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7

Judgment to Come

(Isaiah 7:17–25)

This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:

 * Hear, O peoples, all of you;
 * listen, O earth, and everyone in it!
 * May the Lord GOD bear witness against you,
 * the Lord from His holy temple.
 * For behold, the LORD comes forth
 * from His dwelling place;
 * He will come down and tread
 * on the high places of the earth.
 * The mountains will melt beneath Him,
 * and the valleys will split apart,
 * like wax before the fire,
 * like water rushing down a slope.

 * All this is for the transgression of Jacob
 * and the sins of the house of Israel.
 * What is the transgression of Jacob?
 * Is it not Samaria?
 * And what is the high place of Judah?
 * Is it not Jerusalem?

 * Therefore I will make Samaria
 * a heap of rubble in the open field,
 * a planting area for a vineyard.
 * I will pour her stones into the valley
 * and expose her foundations.
 * All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
 * all her wages will be burned in the fire,
 * and I will destroy all her idols.
 * Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
 * they will be used again on a prostitute.

Weeping and Mourning

 * Because of this I will lament and wail;
 * I will walk barefoot and naked.
 * I will howl like a jackal
 * and mourn like an ostrich.
 * For her wound is incurable;
 * it has reached even Judah;
 * it has approached the gate of my people,
 * as far as Jerusalem itself.

 * Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all.
 * Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
 * Depart in shameful nakedness,
 * O dwellers of Shaphir.
 * The dwellers of Zaanan
 * will not come out.
 * Beth-ezel is in mourning;
 * its support is taken from you.
 * For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good,
 * but calamity came down from the LORD,
 * even to the gate of Jerusalem.

 * Harness your chariot horses,
 * O dweller of Lachish.
 * You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion,
 * for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
 * Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath;
 * the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive
 * to the kings of Israel.
 * I will again bring a conqueror against you,
 * O dweller of Mareshah.
 * The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
 * Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair
 * in mourning for your precious children;
 * make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
 * for they will go from you into exile.

Woe to Oppressors

 * Woe to those who devise iniquity
 * and plot evil on their beds!
 * At morning’s light they accomplish it
 * because the power is in their hands.
 * They covet fields and seize them;
 * they take away houses.
 * They deprive a man of his home,
 * a fellow man of his inheritance.

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

 * “I am planning against this nation a disaster
 * from which you cannot free your necks.
 * Then you will not walk so proudly,
 * for it will be a time of calamity.
 * In that day they will take up a proverb against you
 * and taunt you with this bitter lamentation:
 * ‘We are utterly ruined!
 * He has changed the portion of my people.
 * How He has removed it from me!
 * He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”

 * Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD
 * to divide the land by lot.

Reproof of False Prophets

(Ezekiel 13:1–16)

 * “Do not preach,” they preach.
 * “Do not preach these things;
 * disgrace will not overtake us.”
 * Should it be said, O house of Jacob,
 * “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?
 * Are these the things He does?”

 * Do not My words bring good
 * to him who walks uprightly?
 * But of late My people have risen up
 * like an enemy:
 * You strip off the splendid robe
 * from unsuspecting passersby
 * like men returning from battle.
 * You drive the women of My people
 * from their pleasant homes.
 * You take away My blessing
 * from their children forever.

 * Arise and depart,
 * for this is not your place of rest,
 * because its defilement brings destruction—
 * a grievous destruction!
 * If a man of wind were to come
 * and say falsely,
 * “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
 * he would be just the preacher for this people!

The Remnant of Israel

(Micah 5:7–15)

 * I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
 * I will collect the remnant of Israel.
 * I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
 * like a flock in the midst of its pasture—
 * a noisy throng.
 * One who breaks open the way
 * will go up before them;
 * they will break through the gate,
 * and go out by it.
 * Their King will pass through before them,
 * the LORD as their leader.

Rulers and Prophets Condemned

Then I said:

 * “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob,
 * you rulers of the house of Israel.
 * Should you not know justice?
 * You hate good and love evil.
 * You tear the skin from my people
 * and strip the flesh from their bones.
 * You eat the flesh of my people
 * after stripping off their skin
 * and breaking their bones.
 * You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot,
 * like meat in a cauldron.”

 * Then they will cry out to the LORD,
 * but He will not answer them.
 * At that time He will hide His face from them
 * because of the evil they have done.

This is what the LORD says:

 * “As for the prophets
 * who lead My people astray,
 * who proclaim peace
 * while they chew with their teeth,
 * but declare war against one
 * who puts nothing in their mouths:
 * Therefore night will come over you without visions,
 * and darkness without divination.
 * The sun will set on these prophets,
 * and the daylight will turn black over them.
 * Then the seers will be ashamed
 * and the diviners will be disgraced.
 * They will all cover their mouths
 * because there is no answer from God.”

 * As for me, however, I am filled with power
 * by the Spirit of the LORD,
 * with justice and courage,
 * to declare to Jacob his transgression
 * and to Israel his sin.

 * Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob
 * and rulers of the house of Israel,
 * who despise justice
 * and pervert all that is right,
 * who build Zion with bloodshed
 * and Jerusalem with iniquity.
 * Her leaders judge for a bribe,
 * her priests teach for a price,
 * and her prophets practice divination for money.
 * Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying,
 * “Is not the LORD among us?
 * No disaster can come upon us.”
 * Therefore, because of you,
 * Zion will be plowed like a field,
 * Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
 * and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

The Mountain of the House of the LORD

(Isaiah 2:1–4)

 * In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD
 * will be established as the chief of the mountains;
 * it will be raised above the hills,
 * and the peoples will stream to it.

 * And many nations will come and say:

 * “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
 * to the house of the God of Jacob.
 * He will teach us His ways,
 * so that we may walk in His paths.”

 * For the law will go forth from Zion
 * and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
 * Then He will judge between many peoples
 * and arbitrate for strong nations far and wide.
 * Then they will beat their swords into plowshares
 * and their spears into pruning hooks.
 * Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,
 * nor will they train anymore for war.
 * And each man will sit under his own vine
 * and under his own fig tree,
 * with no one to frighten him.
 * For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.
 * Though each of the peoples
 * may walk in the name of his god,
 * yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
 * forever and ever.

The Restoration of Zion

(Zechariah 8:1–23)

 * “On that day,” declares the LORD,
 * “I will gather the lame;
 * I will assemble the outcast,
 * even those whom I have afflicted.
 * And I will make the lame into a remnant,
 * and the outcast into a strong nation.
 * Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion
 * from that day and forever.
 * And you, O watchtower of the flock,
 * O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion—
 * the former dominion will be restored to you;
 * sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”

 * Why do you now cry aloud?
 * Is there no king among you?
 * Has your counselor perished
 * so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
 * Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,
 * like a woman in labor.
 * For now you will leave the city
 * and camp in the open fields.
 * You will go to Babylon;
 * there you will be rescued;
 * there the LORD will redeem you
 * from the hand of your enemies!

 * But now many nations
 * have assembled against you,
 * saying, “Let her be defiled,
 * and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
 * But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD
 * or understand His plan,
 * for He has gathered them
 * like sheaves to the threshing floor.
 * Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion,
 * for I will give you horns of iron
 * and hooves of bronze
 * to break to pieces many peoples.
 * Then you will devote their gain to the LORD,
 * their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

A Ruler from Bethlehem

(Matthew 2:1–12)

 * Now, O daughter of troops,
 * mobilize your troops;
 * for a siege is laid against us!
 * With a rod they will strike the cheek
 * of the judge of Israel.
 * But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
 * who are small among the clans of Judah,
 * out of you will come forth for Me
 * One to be ruler over Israel —
 * One whose origins are of old,
 * from the days of eternity.
 * Therefore Israel will be abandoned
 * until she who is in labor has given birth;
 * then the rest of His brothers will return
 * to the children of Israel.

 * He will stand and shepherd His flock
 * in the strength of the LORD,
 * in the majestic name of the LORD His God.
 * And they will dwell securely,
 * for then His greatness will extend
 * to the ends of the earth.
 * And He will be our peace
 * when Assyria invades our land
 * and tramples our citadels.
 * We will raise against it seven shepherds,
 * even eight leaders of men.
 * And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
 * and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn.
 * So He will deliver us
 * when Assyria invades our land
 * and marches into our borders.

The Remnant of Jacob

(Micah 2:12–13)

 * Then the remnant of Jacob will be
 * in the midst of many peoples
 * like dew from the LORD,
 * like showers on the grass,
 * which do not wait for man
 * or linger for mankind.
 * Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
 * in the midst of many peoples,
 * like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
 * like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
 * which tramples and tears as it passes through,
 * with no one to rescue them.
 * Your hand will be lifted over your foes,
 * and all your enemies will be cut off.

 * “In that day,”
 * declares the LORD,
 * “I will remove your horses from among you
 * and wreck your chariots.
 * I will remove the cities of your land
 * and tear down all your strongholds.
 * I will cut the sorceries from your hand,
 * and you will have no fortune-tellers.
 * I will also cut off the carved images
 * and sacred pillars from among you,
 * so that you will no longer bow down
 * to the work of your own hands.
 * I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst
 * and demolish your cities.
 * I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
 * upon the nations that have not obeyed Me.”

The Case against Israel

Hear now what the LORD says:

 * “Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
 * and let the hills hear your voice.
 * Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,
 * you enduring foundations of the earth.
 * For the LORD has a case against His people,
 * and He will argue it against Israel:

 * ‘My people, what have I done to you?
 * Testify against Me how I have wearied you!
 * For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
 * and redeemed you from the house of slavery.
 * I sent Moses before you,
 * as well as Aaron and Miriam.
 * My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled
 * and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
 * Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
 * so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

 * With what shall I come before the LORD
 * when I bow before the God on high?
 * Should I come to Him with burnt offerings,
 * with year-old calves?
 * Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
 * with ten thousand rivers of oil?
 * Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,
 * the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

 * He has shown you, O man, what is good.
 * And what does the LORD require of you
 * but to act justly, to love mercy,
 * and to walk humbly with your God?

The Punishment of Israel

 * The voice of the LORD calls out to the city
 * (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name):
 * “Heed the rod
 * and the One who ordained it.
 * Can I forget any longer,
 * O house of the wicked,
 * the treasures of wickedness
 * and the short ephah, which is accursed?
 * Can I excuse dishonest scales
 * or bags of false weights?
 * For the wealthy of the city
 * are full of violence,
 * and its residents speak lies;
 * their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

 * Therefore I am striking you severely,
 * to ruin you because of your sins.
 * You will eat but not be satisfied,
 * and your hunger will remain with you.
 * What you acquire, you will not preserve;
 * and what you save, I will give to the sword.
 * You will sow but not reap;
 * you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;
 * you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
 * You have kept the statutes of Omri
 * and all the practices of Ahab’s house;
 * you have followed their counsel.
 * Therefore I will make you a desolation,
 * and your inhabitants an object of contempt;
 * you will bear the scorn of the nations. ”

Israel’s Great Misery

(Matthew 10:34–39; Luke 12:49–53)

 * Woe is me!

 * For I am like one gathering summer fruit
 * at the gleaning of the vineyard;
 * there is no cluster to eat,
 * no early fig that I crave.
 * The godly man has perished from the earth;
 * there is no one upright among men.
 * They all lie in wait for blood;
 * they hunt one another with a net.
 * Both hands are skilled at evil;
 * the prince and the judge demand a bribe.
 * When the powerful utters his evil desire,
 * they all conspire together.
 * The best of them is like a brier;
 * the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.
 * The day for your watchmen has come,
 * the day of your visitation.
 * Now is the time of their confusion.
 * Do not rely on a friend;
 * do not trust in a companion.
 * Seal the doors of your mouth
 * from her who lies in your arms.
 * For a son dishonors his father,
 * a daughter rises against her mother,
 * and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
 * A man’s enemies are the members
 * of his own household.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

 * But as for me, I will look to the LORD;
 * I will wait for the God of my salvation.
 * My God will hear me.

 * Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
 * Though I have fallen, I will arise;
 * though I sit in darkness,
 * the LORD will be my light.
 * Because I have sinned against Him,
 * I must endure the rage of the LORD,
 * until He argues my case
 * and executes justice for me.
 * He will bring me into the light;
 * I will see His righteousness.
 * Then my enemy will see
 * and will be covered with shame—
 * she who said to me,
 * “Where is the LORD your God?”
 * My eyes will see her;
 * at that time she will be trampled
 * like mud in the streets.

 * The day for rebuilding your walls will come—
 * the day for extending your boundary.
 * On that day they will come to you
 * from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
 * even from Egypt to the Euphrates,
 * from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
 * Then the earth will become desolate
 * because of its inhabitants,
 * as the fruit of their deeds.

God’s Compassion on Israel

 * Shepherd with Your staff Your people,
 * the flock of Your inheritance.
 * They live alone in a woodland,
 * surrounded by pastures.
 * Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,
 * as in the days of old.

 * As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
 * I will show My wonders.
 * Nations will see and be ashamed,
 * deprived of all their might.
 * They will put their hands over their mouths,
 * and their ears will become deaf.
 * They will lick the dust like a snake,
 * like reptiles slithering on the ground.
 * They will crawl from their holes
 * in the presence of the LORD our God;
 * they will tremble in fear of You.

 * Who is a God like You,
 * who pardons iniquity
 * and passes over the transgression
 * of the remnant of His inheritance—
 * who does not retain His anger forever,
 * because He delights in loving devotion?
 * He will again have compassion on us;
 * He will vanquish our iniquities.
 * You will cast out all our sins
 * into the depths of the sea.
 * You will show faithfulness to Jacob
 * and loving devotion to Abraham,
 * as You swore to our fathers
 * from the days of old.

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Micah