Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole ifamily that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
jof all the families of the earth;
therefore 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 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 kThe lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
lwho can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mmountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
n“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down1 your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a ocouch and part2 of a bed.
13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
I will punish the paltars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the qwinter house along with the summer house,
and the houses of rivory shall perish,
and the sgreat houses3 shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
1 “Hear this word, you cows tof Bashan,
who are on the umountain of Samaria,
who oppress the vpoor, who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn wby his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with xfishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Come to yBethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a zsacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for 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 lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not areturn to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also bwithheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I 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 would wander to another city
to drink water, cand would not be satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I struck you with dblight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees the elocust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence fafter the manner of Egypt;
gI killed your young men with the sword,
and carried away your horses,4
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
has when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were as a brand5 plucked out of the burning;
yet 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, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who imakes the morning darkness,
and jtreads on the heights of the earth—
kthe Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
Sin and Shin
161 sPrinces persecute me without cause,
but my heart stands in awe of your words.
162 I trejoice at your word
like one who finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous rules.
165 Great upeace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.
166 vI hope for your salvation, O Lord,
and I do your commandments.
167 My soul keeps your testimonies;
I love them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and testimonies,
for wall 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 lovers of self, lovers of money, zproud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, aswollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. bAvoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a cknowledge of the truth. 8 Just as dJannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men ecorrupted in mind and fdisqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God
10 gYou, however, have hfollowed 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 at iAntioch, at jIconium, and at kLystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord lrescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a mgodly life in Christ Jesus nwill be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on ofrom bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom1 you learned it 15 and how pfrom childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 qAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the rman of God2 may be complete, sequipped for every good work.
Preach the Word
1 I tcharge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, uwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by his vappearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; wreprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 xFor the time is coming when people will not endure ysound3 teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and zwander off into amyths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, bendure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, cfulfill your ministry.
6 dFor I am already being epoured out as a drink offering, and the time of my fdeparture has come. 7 I have fought the ggood fight, I have hfinished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is ilaid up for me the jcrown of righteousness, which the Lord, the krighteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Personal Instructions
9 Do your best lto come to me soon. 10 For mDemas, nin love with othis present world, phas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,4 qTitus to Dalmatia. 11 rLuke alone is with me. Get sMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 tTychicus 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 uAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; vthe Lord will repay him waccording to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first xdefense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and ystrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and zall the Gentiles might hear it. So I was arescued bfrom the lion’s mouth. 18 cThe Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. dTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet ePrisca and Aquila, and the household of fOnesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.5
