Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
1 jHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 k“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
ltherefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 mIs a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
nDoes disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
owithout revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
pThe Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in qAshdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on rthe mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and sthe oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
t“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
u“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down1 your defenses from you,
and vyour strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: w“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, xso shall the people of Israel ywho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part2 of a bed.
13 “Hear, zand testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, athe God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
bI will punish the altars of Bethel,
and cthe horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 dI will strike ethe winter house along with fthe summer house,
and gthe houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses3 shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
1 “Hear this word, hyou cows of Bashan,
who are ion the mountain of Samaria,
jwho oppress the poor, jwho crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 kThe Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
lwhen they shall take you away with hooks,
leven the last of you with fishhooks.
3 mAnd you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 n“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to oGilgal, and multiply transgression;
nbring your psacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of qthat which is leavened,
and proclaim rfreewill offerings, publish them;
sfor so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and tlack of bread in all your places,
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also vwithheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
wI would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities xwould wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 y“I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees zthe locust devoured;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence aafter the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and bcarried away your horses,4
and cI made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
das when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were eas a brand5 plucked out of the burning;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, fhe who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and gdeclares to man what is his thought,
hwho makes the morning darkness,
and itreads on the heights of the earth—
jthe Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
Sin and Shin
161 rPrinces persecute me swithout cause,
but my heart tstands in awe of your words.
162 I trejoice at your word
like one who ufinds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love vyour law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your qrighteous rules.
165 Great wpeace have those who love your law;
xnothing can make them stumble.
166 I yhope for your salvation, O Lord,
and I do your commandments.
167 My soul keeps your testimonies;
I vlove them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and testimonies,
zfor all my ways are before you.
Godlessness in the Last Days
1 But understand this, that yin the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be zlovers of self, alovers of money, bproud, barrogant, abusive, bdisobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 cheartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, dnot loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, eswollen with conceit, flovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but gdenying its power. hAvoid such people. 6 For among them are ithose who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to jarrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as kJannes and Jambres lopposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, mmen corrupted in mind and ndisqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, oas was that of those two men.
All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God
10 pYou, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me qat Antioch, rat Iconium, and sat Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet tfrom them all uthe Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to vlive a godly life in Christ Jesus wwill be persecuted, 13 while xevil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and ybeing deceived. 14 But as for you, zcontinue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom1 you learned it 15 and how afrom childhood you have been acquainted with bthe sacred writings, cwhich are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 dAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that ethe man of God2 may be complete, fequipped gfor every good work.
Preach the Word
1 hI charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, iwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by jhis appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; kreprove, rebuke, and lexhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 mFor the time is coming when people will not endure nsound3 teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and owill turn away from listening to the truth and pwander off into myths. 5 But as for you, qalways be sober-minded, rendure suffering, do the work of san evangelist, tfulfill your ministry.
6 For uI am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my vdeparture has come. 7 wI have fought the good fight, xI have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is ylaid up for me zthe crown of righteousness, which the Lord, athe righteous judge, will award to me on bthat day, and not only to me but also to all cwho have loved his appearing.
Personal Instructions
9 dDo your best to come to me soon. 10 For eDemas, fin love with gthis present world, hhas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,4 iTitus to Dalmatia. 11 hLuke alone is with me. Get jMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 kTychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 lAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; mthe Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. nMay it not be charged against them! 17 But othe Lord stood by me and pstrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and qall the Gentiles might hear it. So rI was rescued sfrom the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. tTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet uPrisca and Aquila, and vthe household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left wTrophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 xDo your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.5
