1 Ephraim feeds on the wind
and pursues zthe east wind all day long;
they multiply yfalsehood and violence;
athey make a covenant with Assyria,
and boil is carried to Egypt.
The Lord’s Indictment of Israel and Judah
2 cThe Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
he will repay him according to his deeds.
3 dIn the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he strove with God.
4 He strove with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.
and there God spoke with us—
5 the Lord, the God of hosts,
fthe Lord is his memorial name:
6 “So you, gby the help of your God, return,
hhold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”
7 A merchant, in whose hands are ifalse balances,
he loves jto oppress.
8 Ephraim has said, “Ah, but kI am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors lthey cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
9 mI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ndwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
10 oI spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied pvisions,
and through the prophets gave parables.
11 qIf there is iniquity in Gilead,
they shall surely come to nothing:
rin Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
stheir altars also are like stone heaps
ton the furrows of the field.
12 uJacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel vserved for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.
13 By wa prophet xthe Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.
14 yEphraim has given bitter provocation;
so his Lord zwill leave his bloodguilt on him
aand will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.
The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
bhe was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt cthrough Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and dmake for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
eall of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice fkiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be glike the morning mist
or glike the dew that goes early away,
hlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or ilike smoke from a window.
4 But jI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
kyou know no God but me,
and lbesides me there is no savior.
5 mIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 nbut when they had grazed,2 they became full,
othey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
otherefore they forgot me.
7 So pI am to them like a lion;
qlike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them rlike a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
sas a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys3 you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against tyour helper.
10 uWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom vyou said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 wI gave you a king in my anger,
and xI took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is ybound up;
his sin is ykept in store.
13 zThe pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
aat the opening of the womb.
14 bI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
bI shall redeem them from Death.4
cO dDeath, where are your plagues?
cO dSheol, where is your sting?
eCompassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Though fhe may flourish among his brothers,
gthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
hand his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ihis treasury
of every precious thing.
16 5 Samaria jshall bear her guilt,
because kshe has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
ltheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their mpregnant women ripped open.
A Plea to Return to the Lord
1 nReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for oyou have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept pwhat is good,
and we will pay with bulls
3 rAssyria shall not save us;
swe will not ride on horses;
and twe will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
uIn you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I vwill heal their apostasy;
wI will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 xI will be like the dew to Israel;
yhe shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees zof Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be alike the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and bdwell beneath my7 shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O cEphraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.8
I am like an evergreen cypress;
dfrom me comes your fruit.
9 eWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and fthe upright walk in them,
fbut transgressors stumble in them.
Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person pbe subject to the governing authorities. For qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you rwill receive his approval, 4 for she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ufor the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 wOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for xthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, y“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: z“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore alove is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you bto wake from sleep. cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ecast off fthe works of darkness and gput on the armor of light. 13 hLet us walk properly as in the daytime, inot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, jnot in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, lto gratify its desires.