Today's Reading

¹Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel; for the Lord has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

²There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

³Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away, all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.

⁴"Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

⁵You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God's law, I will also forget your children.

⁷As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

⁸They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

⁹It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to the Lord.

¹¹Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.

¹²My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

¹³They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.

¹⁵"Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet do not let Judah offend; and do not come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, 'As the Lord lives.'

¹⁶For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow.

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!

¹⁸Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.

¹⁹The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.

¹"Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.

²The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I discipline all of them.

³I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.

⁴Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the Lord.

⁵The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them.

⁶They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they won't find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.

⁷They are unfaithful to the Lord; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

⁸"Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!

⁹Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.

¹⁰The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

¹²Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.

¹³"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

¹⁴For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.

¹⁵I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."

¹"Come, and let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.

²After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.

³Let us acknowledge the Lord. Let us press on to know the Lord. As surely as the sun rises, The Lord will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth."

⁴"Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.

⁵Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.

⁶For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.

⁸Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.

⁹As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.

¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.

¹¹"Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.

¹But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.

²Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.

³In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old does not linger, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the lower parts of hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

⁵and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

⁶and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly;

⁷and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked

⁸(for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):

⁹the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;

¹⁰but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;

¹¹whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.

¹²But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,

¹³suffering the penalty as the wages of evil; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

¹⁴having eyes full of adultery, and who cannot cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;

¹⁵forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;

¹⁶but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man's voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷These are wells without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved.

¹⁸For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who barely escape from those who live in error;

¹⁹promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

²⁰For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

²¹For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

²²It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and "the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire."

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.