Hosea 11-14; Psalms 124 - Prayer Tents

The Lord’s Love for Israel

2But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.H7121H1980H6440H2076H1168H6999H6456

3I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him.H8637H669H8637H3947H2220H3045H7495

Charges against Israel and Judah

12Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still obeys God and is faithful to the Holy One.H669H5437H3585H1004H3478H4820H3063H7300H410H539H6918

12 The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.H669H7462H7307H7291H6921H3117H7235H3577H7701H3772H1285H804H8081H2986H4714

2Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.H3068H7379H3063H6485H3290H1870H4611H7725

3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.H251H6117H990H202H8280H430

4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him①—/ ①As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.H7786H4397H3201H1058H2603H4672H1008H1696

5the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!H3068H430H6635H3068H2143

6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.H7725H430H8104H2617H4941H6960H430H8548

7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales—they love to cheat.H3667H3976H4820H3027H157H6231

8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!”H669H559H6238H4672H202H3018H4672H5771H2399

9“But I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. And I will make you live in tents again, as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.H3068H430H776H4714H3427H168H3117H4150

10I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.”H1696H5030H7235H2377H1819H3027H5030

11But the people of Gilead are worthless because of their idol worship. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field.H205H1568H7723H2076H7794H1537H4196H1530H8525H7704

12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.H3290H1272H7704H758H3478H5647H802H802H8104

13Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.H5030H3068H5927H3478H4714H5030H8104

14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the Lord, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins.H669H3707H8563H5203H1818H2781H113H7725

The Lord’s Anger against Israel

13When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear, for that tribe was important in Israel. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.H669H1696H7578H5375H3478H816H1168H4191 2Now they continue to sin by making silver idols, images shaped skillfully with human hands. “Sacrifice to these,” they cry, “and kiss the calf idols!”H2398H3254H6213H4541H3701H6091H8394H4639H2796H559H120H2076H5401H5695 3Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney.H1242H6051H7925H2919H1980H4671H5590H1637H6227H699 4“I have been the Lord your God ever since I brought you out of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior.H3068H430H776H4714H3045H430H2108H3467H1115 5I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land.H3045H4057H776H8514 6But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me.H4830H7646H7646H3820H7311H7911 7So now I will attack you like a lion, like a leopard that lurks along the road.H7826H5246H1870H7789 8Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away, I will tear out your heart. I will devour you like a hungry lioness and mangle you like a wild animal.H6298H1677H7909H7167H5458H3820H398H3833H7704H2416H1234 9“You are about to be destroyed, O Israel—yes, by me, your only helper.H3478H7843H5828 10Now where is your king? Let him save you! Where are all the leaders of the land, the king and the officials you demanded of me?H165H4428H645H3467H5892H8199H559H5414H4428H8269 11In my anger I gave you kings, and in my fury I took them away.H5414H4428H639H3947H5678 12“Ephraim’s guilt has been collected, and his sin has been stored up for punishment.H5771H669H6887H2403H6845 13Pain has come to the people like the pain of childbirth, but they are like a child who resists being born. The moment of birth has arrived, but they stay in the womb!H2256H3205H935H2450H1121H5975H6256H4866H1121 14“Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring on your terrors! O grave, bring on your plagues! For I will not take pity on them.H6299H3027H7585H1350H4194H4194H165H1698H7585H165H6987H5164H5641H5869 15Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind—a blast from the Lord—will arise in the desert. All their flowing springs will run dry, and all their wells will disappear. Every precious thing they own will be plundered and carried away.H6500H251H6921H935H7307H3068H5927H4057H4726H954H4599H2717H8154H214H2532H3627 16The people of Samaria must bear the consequences of their guilt because they rebelled against their God. They will be killed by an invading army, their little ones dashed to death against the ground, their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”H8111H816H4784H430H5307H2719H5768H7376H2030H1234

Healing for the Repentant

14Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.H3478H7725H3068H430H3782H5771 2Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.H3947H1697H7725H3068H559H5375H5771H3947H2896H7999H6499H8193 3Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’ No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.”H804H3467H7392H5483H559H4639H3027H430H3490H7355 4The Lord says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.H7495H4878H157H5071H639H7725 5I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon.H2919H3478H6524H7799H5221H8328H3844 6Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.H3127H3212H1935H2132H7381H3844 7My people will again live under my shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.H3427H6738H7725H2421H1715H6524H1612H2143H3196H3844 8“O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.”H669H6091H6030H7789H7488H1265H6529H4672 9Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.H2450H995H995H3045H1870H3068H3477H6662H3212H6586H3782

124[A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.] What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat.H7892H4609H1732H3884H3068H3478H559 2What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?H3884H3068H120H6965 3They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.H233H1104H2416H639H2734 4The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.H233H4325H7857H5158H5674H5315 5Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.H233H2121H4325H5674H5315 6Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!H1288H3068H5414H2964H8127 7We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!H5315H4422H6833H6341H3369H6341H7665H4422 8Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.H5828H8034H3068H6213H8064H776