Bible Reading Plan

¹ Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,^(a)
for you have acted promiscuously,^(b) leaving your God.
You have loved the wages of a prostitute
on every grain-threshing floor.^(c)
2 Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,^(d)
and the new wine will fail them.
³ They will not stay in the land of the Lord .
Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,^(e)
and they will eat unclean food^(f) in Assyria.^(g)

⁴ They will not pour out
their wine offerings to the Lord ,^(h)
and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their food will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat it become defiled.⁽ⁱ⁾
For their bread will be for their appetites alone;
it will not enter the house of the Lord .
⁵ What will you do on a festival day,^(j)
on the day of the Lord 's feast?^(k)
6 For even if they flee from devastation,
Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.^(l)
Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;
thorns will invade their tents.^(m)

⁷ The days of punishment have come;⁽ⁿ⁾
the days of retribution have come.^(o)
Let Israel recognize it!
The prophet is a fool,^(p)
and the inspired man is insane,^(q)
because of the magnitude
of your guilt and hostility.^(r)
8 Ephraim's watchman is with my God.
The prophet encounters a fowler's snare
on all his ways.^(s)
Hostility is in the house of his God!
⁹ They have deeply corrupted themselves^(t)
as in the days of Gibeah.^(u)
He will remember their guilt;
He will punish their sins.^(v)

¹⁰ I discovered Israel
like grapes in the wilderness.^(w)
I saw your fathers
like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.^(x)
But they went to Baal-peor,^(y)
consecrated themselves to Shame,^[a](z)
and became detestable,^(aa)
like the thing they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird:^(ab)
no birth, no gestation, no conception.^(ac)
12 Even if they raise children,
I will bereave them of each one.
Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!^(ad)
13 I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,^(ae)
planted in a meadow,
so Ephraim will bring out his children
to the executioner.
¹⁴ Give them, Lord —
What should You give?
Give them a womb that miscarries
and breasts that are dry!^(af)

¹⁵ All their evil appears at Gilgal,^(ag)
for there I came to hate them.
I will drive them from My house
because of their evil, wicked actions.^(ah)
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.^(ai)
16 Ephraim^(aj) is struck down;
their roots are withered;
they cannot bear fruit.^(ak)
Even if they bear children,
I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.^(al)
17 My God will reject them
because they have not listened to Him;^(am)
they will become wanderers among the nations.^(an)

¹ Israel is a lush^[a] vine;^(a)
it yields fruit for itself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars.^(b)
The better his land produced,
the better they made the sacred pillars.^(c)
2 Their hearts are devious;^[b](d)
now they must bear their guilt.^(e)
The Lord will break down their altars^(f)
and demolish their sacred pillars.
³ In fact, they are now saying,
"We have no king!
For we do not fear the Lord .^(g)
What can a king do for us?"
⁴ They speak mere words,
taking false oaths while making covenants.^(h)
So lawsuits break out
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.⁽ⁱ⁾

⁵ The residents of Samaria^(j) will have anxiety
over the calf^(k) of Beth-aven.^(l)
Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;
the people will mourn over it,
over its glory.^(m)
It will certainly depart from them.
⁶ The calf itself will be taken to Assyria⁽ⁿ⁾
as an offering to the great king.^[c](o)
Ephraim will experience shame;^(p)
Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.^(q)
7 Samaria's king will disappear^[d](r)
like foam^[e] on the surface of the water.
⁸ The high places^(s) of Aven, the sin of Israel,^(t)
will be destroyed;
thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.^(u)
They will say to the mountains,^(v) "Cover us!"
and to the hills, "Fall on us!"^(w)

⁹ Israel, you have sinned
since the days of Gibeah;^(x)
they have taken their stand there.
Will not war against the unjust
overtake them in Gibeah?
¹⁰ I will discipline^(y) them at My discretion;^(z)
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bondage^[f]
for their two crimes.^(aa)

¹¹ Ephraim is a well-trained calf^(ab)
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on^[g] her fine neck.^(ac)
I will harness Ephraim;^(ad)
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.
¹² Sow righteousness for yourselves^(ae)
and reap faithful love;
break up your unplowed ground.^(af)
It is time to seek the Lord ^(ag)
until He comes^(ah) and sends righteousness
on you like the rain.^(ai)

¹³ You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;^(aj)
you have eaten the fruit of lies.^(ak)
Because you have trusted in your own way^[h]
and in your large number of soldiers,^(al)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
and all your fortifications will be demolished^(am)
in a day of war,
like Shalman's destruction of Beth-arbel.
Mothers will be dashed to pieces
along with their children.^(an)
15 So it will be done to you, Bethel,^(ao)
because of your extreme evil.
At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.

¹ When Israel was a child, I loved him,^(a)
and out of Egypt I called My son.^(b)
2 The more they^[a] called them,^[b](c)
the more they^[c] departed from Me.^[d]
They kept sacrificing to the Baals^(d)
and burning offerings to idols.^(e)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,^(f)
taking them^[e] in My arms,^(g)
but they never knew that I healed them.^(h)
4 I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.⁽ⁱ⁾
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;^(j)
I bent down to give them food.^(k)
5 Israel will not return to the land of Egypt
and Assyria will be his king,^(l)
because they refused to repent.^(m)
6 A sword will whirl through his cities;⁽ⁿ⁾
it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,^[f](o)
because of their schemes.^(p)
7 My people are bent on turning from Me.^(q)
Though they call to Him on high,
He will not exalt them at all.

⁸ How can I give you up, Ephraim?^(r)
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?^(s)
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?^(t)
I have had a change of heart;
My compassion is stirred!
⁹ I will not vent the full fury of My anger;^(u)
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.^(v)
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One among you;^(w)
I will not come in rage.^[g]
10 They will follow the Lord ;^(x)
He will roar like a lion.^(y)
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.^(z)
11 They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves^(aa) from the land of Assyria.^(ab)
Then I will settle them in their homes.^(ac)
This is the Lord 's declaration.

^12 [h] Ephraim surrounds me with lies,^(ad)
the house of Israel, with deceit.
Judah still wanders with God
and is faithful to the holy ones.^[i][j]

¹ Ephraim chases^[a] the wind^(a)
and pursues the east wind.^(b)
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria,^(c)
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.^(d)

² The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways;^(e)
He will repay him based on his actions.
³ In the womb he grasped his brother's heel,^(f)
and as an adult he wrestled with God.^(g)
4 Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought His favor.^(h)
He found him^[b] at Bethel,⁽ⁱ⁾
and there He spoke with him.^[c](j)
5 Yahweh is the God of Hosts;
Yahweh is His name.^(k)
6 But you must return to your God.^(l)
Maintain love and justice,^(m)
and always put your hope in God.⁽ⁿ⁾

⁷ A merchant loves to extort^(o)
with dishonest scales in his hands.^(p)
8 But Ephraim says:
"How rich I have become;^(q)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any crime in me^(r)
that I can be punished for!"^[d]

⁹ I have been Yahweh your God
ever since^[e] the land of Egypt.^(s)
I will make you live in tents again,^(t)
as in the festival days.
¹⁰ I spoke through the prophets^(u)
and granted many visions;
I gave parables through the prophets.^(v)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,^(w)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;^(x)
even their altars will be like heaps of rocks^(y)
on the furrows of a field.

¹² Jacob fled to the land of Aram.^(z)
Israel worked to earn a wife;^(aa)
he tended flocks for a wife.^(ab)
13 The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,^(ac)
and Israel was tended by a prophet.

¹⁴ Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,^(ad)
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him^(ae)
and repay him for his contempt.^(af)

¹ When Ephraim spoke,^(a) there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.^(b)
But he incurred guilt through Baal^(c) and died.

² Now they continue to sin
and make themselves a cast image,^(d)
idols skillfully made from their silver,^(e)
all of them the work of craftsmen.^(f)
People say about them,
"Let the men who sacrifice^[a] kiss the calves."^(g)
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,^(h)
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,⁽ⁱ⁾
or like smoke from a window.^(j)

⁴ I have been Yahweh your God^(k)
ever since^[b] the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,^(l)
and no Savior exists besides Me.^(m)
5 I knew^[c] you in the wilderness,⁽ⁿ⁾
in the land of drought.
⁶ When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;^(o)
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.^(p)
Therefore they forgot Me.^(q)
7 So I will be like a lion^(r) to them;
I will lurk like a leopard^(s) on the path.
⁸ I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,^(t)
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
⁹ I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but Me.^[d](u)

¹⁰ Where now is your king,^[e](v)
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the^[f] rulers^[g](w) you demanded, saying,
"Give me a king and leaders"?
¹¹ I give you a king in My anger^(x)
and take away a king in My wrath.^(y)
12 Ephraim's guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.^(z)
13 Labor pains come on him.^(aa)
He is not a wise son;^(ab)
when the time comes,
he will not be born.^[h](ac)

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem^[i] them from death.^(ad)
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?^(ae)
Compassion is hidden from My eyes.^(af)

¹⁵ Although he flourishes among his brothers,^[j](ag)
an east wind will come,^(ah)
a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.
His water source will fail,
and his spring will run dry.^(ai)
The wind^[k] will plunder the treasury^(aj)
of every precious item.

^16 [l]Samaria^(ak) will bear her guilt^(al)
because she has rebelled against her God.^(am)
They will fall by the sword;^(an)
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,^(ao)
and their pregnant women ripped open.^(ap)

¹ Israel, return to Yahweh your God,^(a)
for you have stumbled in your sin.^(b)
2 Take words of repentance with you^(c)
and return to the Lord .
Say to Him: "Forgive all our sin
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay You
with praise^[a] from our^[b] lips.^(d)
3 Assyria will not save us,^(e)
we will not ride on horses,^(f)
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!'^(g)
to the work of our hands.^(h)
For the fatherless receives compassion in You."⁽ⁱ⁾

⁴ I will heal their apostasy;^(j)
I will freely love them,^(k)
for My anger will have turned from him.^(l)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;^(m)
he will blossom like the lily⁽ⁿ⁾
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.^(o)
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,^(p)
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.^(q)
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade.^(r)
They will grow grain^(s)
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ Ephraim, why should I^[c] have anything more
to do with idols?^(t)
It is I who answer and watch over him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree;^(u)
your fruit comes from Me.^(v)

⁹ Let whoever is wise^(w) understand these things,
and whoever is insightful recognize them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,^(x)
and the righteous walk in them,^(y)
but the rebellious stumble in them.^(z)