Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind
1 Set ethe trumpet to your lips!
One flike a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because gthey have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
h“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 iThey made kings, jbut not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 kI have1 spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
lHow long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
kThe calf of Samaria
7 For nthey sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
ostrangers would devour it.
8 pIsrael is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as qa useless vessel.
9 For rthey have gone up to Assyria,
sa wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And tthe king and princes ushall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim vhas multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 wWere I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
xthey sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
yNow he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
zthey shall return to Egypt.
14 For aIsrael has forgotten bhis Maker
and cbuilt palaces,
and aJudah has multiplied fortified cities;
so dI will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
The Lord Will Punish Israel
1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
efor you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
fYou have loved a prostitute’s wages
on all threshing floors.
2 gThreshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and gthe new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in hthe land of the Lord,
but iEphraim shall return to Egypt,
and jthey shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 kThey shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
land their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like mmourners’ bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
nit shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 oWhat will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but pEgypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess qtheir precious things of silver;
rthorns shall be in their tents.
7 sThe days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
tThe prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is uthe watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet va fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 wThey have deeply corrupted themselves
as xin the days of Gibeah:
whe will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
yI found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But zthey came to Baal-peor
and aconsecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and bbecame detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s cglory shall fly away like a bird—
dno birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 eEven if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
fWoe to them
when gI depart from them!
13 Ephraim, has I have seen, was like a young palm3 planted in a meadow;
but eEphraim must lead his children out to slaughter.4
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them ia miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in jGilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
16 Ephraim is stricken;
mtheir root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even nthough they give birth,
eI will put their beloved children to death.
17 oMy God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
pthey shall be wanderers among the nations.
1 qIsrael is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
rthe more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord5 will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say:
s“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter tmere words;
with empty6 oaths they make covenants;
so ujudgment springs up like poisonous weeds
vin the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced over it and yover its glory—
for it has departed8 from them.
6 zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to athe great king.9
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
7 cSamaria’s king shall perish
like a twig on the face of the waters.
8 The high places of xAven, dthe sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
eThorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and fthey shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9 From gthe days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjust11 overtake them in Gibeah?
10 hWhen I please, iI will discipline them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for jtheir double iniquity.
11 Ephraim was a trained calf
that kloved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put lEphraim to the yoke;
lJudah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 mSow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
nbreak up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and orain righteousness upon you.
13 pYou have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore qthe tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as rShalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
smothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O tBethel,
because of your great evil.
At dawn athe king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
The Lord’s Love for Israel
1 uWhen Israel was a child, vI loved him,
and out of Egypt I wcalled xmy son.
2 yThe more they were called,
the more they went away;
zthey kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was aI who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that bI healed them.
4 cI led them with cords of kindness,12
with the bands of love,
and dI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and eI bent down to them and fed them.
5 fThey shall not13 return to the land of Egypt,
but gAssyria shall be their king,
hbecause ithey have refused to return to me.
6 jThe sword shall rage against their cities,
consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them kbecause of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent lon turning away from me,
and though mthey call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
nHow can I make you olike Admah?
How can I treat you olike Zeboiim?
pMy heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
qfor I am God and not a man,
rthe Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.14
10 sThey shall go after the Lord;
the will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling ufrom the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds vfrom Egypt,
and wlike doves xfrom the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
12 15 Ephraim yhas surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
A Living Sacrifice
1 zI appeal to you therefore, brothers,1 by the mercies of God, ato present your bodies bas a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 2 cDo not be conformed to this world,3 but be transformed by dthe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ediscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.4
Gifts of Grace
3 For fby the grace given to me I say to everyone among you gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, heach according to ithe measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For jas in one body we have many members,5 and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, kthough many, lare one body in Christ, and individually mmembers one of another. 6 nHaving gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if oprophecy, pin proportion to our faith; 7 if qservice, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; rthe one who leads,6 with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with scheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9 tLet love be genuine. uAbhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 vLove one another with brotherly affection. wOutdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, xbe fervent in spirit,7 yserve the Lord. 12 zRejoice in hope, abe patient in tribulation, bbe constant in prayer. 13 cContribute to the needs of the saints and dseek to show hospitality.
14 eBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 fRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 gLive in harmony with one another. hDo not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.8 iNever be wise in your own sight. 17 jRepay no one evil for evil, but kgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, llive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, mnever avenge yourselves, but leave it9 to the wrath of God, for it is written, n“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, o“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.