Today's Reading

¹The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

²When the Lord spoke at the first by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking the Lord."

³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.

⁴The Lord said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.

⁵It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

⁶She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.

⁷But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen."

⁸Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.

⁹He said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.

¹⁰Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

¹¹The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.

¹"Say to your brothers, 'My people!' and to your sisters, 'My loved one!'

²Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

³Lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

⁴Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;

⁵For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'

⁶Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can't find her way.

⁷She will follow after her lovers, but she won't overtake them; and she will seek them, but won't find them. Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.'

⁸For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

⁹Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

¹⁰Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.

¹¹I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

¹²I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, 'These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,' and the animals of the field shall eat them.

¹³I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me," says the Lord.

¹⁴"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

¹⁵I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶It will be in that day," says the Lord, "that you will call me 'my husband,' and no longer call me 'my master.'

¹⁷For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

¹⁸In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

¹⁹I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

²⁰I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.

²¹It will happen in that day, I will respond," says the Lord, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

²²and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.

²³I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'My God!'"

¹The Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."

²So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.

³I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you."

⁴For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.

¹Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

²Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

³seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;

⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.

⁵Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;

⁶and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control patience; and in patience godliness;

⁷and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love.

⁸For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.

¹¹For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

¹²Therefore I will be ready always to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.

¹³I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you;

¹⁴knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

¹⁵Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.

¹⁶For we did not follow cunningly devised tales, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

¹⁷For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

¹⁸We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:

²⁰knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.

²¹For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spoke from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

¹A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but accurate weights are his delight.

²When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

⁴Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires.

⁷When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.

⁸A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.

¹⁰When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

¹²One who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding holds his peace.

¹³One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.

¹⁴Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory.

¹⁵He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman obtains honor, but violent men obtain riches.

¹⁷The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

¹⁸Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

¹⁹He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death.

²⁰Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.

²¹Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous will be delivered.

²²Like a gold ring in a pig's snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁴There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.

²⁵The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

²⁶People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.

²⁸He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.

²⁹He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.

³¹Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner!