Hosea 4-5
Israel Is Unfaithful
4 Israel, listen
as the Lord accuses
everyone in the land!
No one is faithful or loyal
or truly cares about God.
2 Cursing, dishonesty, murder,
robbery, unfaithfulness—
these happen all the time.
Violence is everywhere.
3 And so your land is a desert.
Every living creature is dying—
people and wild animals,
birds and fish.
The Lord Warns the Priests
4 Don’t accuse just anyone!
Not everyone is at fault.
My case is against you,
the priests.[a]
5 You and the prophets
will stumble day and night;
I’ll silence your mothers.
6 You priests have rejected me,
and my people are destroyed
by refusing to obey.
Now I’ll reject you and forget
your children,
because you
have forgotten my Law.
7 By adding more of you priests,
you multiply the number
of people who sin.
Now I’ll change your pride
into shame.
8 You encourage others to sin,
so you can stuff yourselves
on their sin offerings.
9 That’s why I will punish
the people for their deeds,
just as I will punish
you priests.
10 Their food won’t satisfy,
and having sex at pagan shrines
won’t produce children.
My people have rebelled
11 and have been unfaithful
to me, their Lord.
God Condemns Israel’s Idolatry
My people, you are foolish
because of too much pleasure
and too much wine.
12 You expect wooden idols
and other objects of wood
to give you advice.
Lusting for sex at pagan shrines
has made you unfaithful
to me, your God.
13 You offer sacrifices
on mountaintops and hills,
under oak trees, and wherever
good shade is found.
Your own daughters
and daughters-in-law
sell themselves for sex.
14 But I won’t punish them.
You men are to blame,
because you go to prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with them
at pagan shrines.
Your own foolishness
will lead to your ruin.
15 Israel, you are unfaithful,
but don’t lead Judah to sin.
Stop worshiping at Gilgal
or at sinful Bethel.[b]
And quit making promises
in my name—
the name
of the living Lord.
16 You are nothing more
than a stubborn cow—
so stubborn that I, the Lord,
cannot feed you like lambs
in an open pasture.
17 You people of Israel[c]
are charmed by[d] idols.
Leave them alone!
18 You get drunk, then sleep
with prostitutes;
you would rather be vulgar
than lead a decent life.[e]
19 And so you will be swept away
in a whirlwind
for sacrificing to idols.
Israel and Judah Will Be Judged
The Lord said:
5 Listen, you priests!
Pay attention, Israel![f]
Listen, you members
of the royal family.
Justice was your duty.
But[g] at Mizpah and Mount Tabor
you trapped the people.
2 At the place of worship
you were a treacherous pit,[h]
and I will punish you.
3 Israel, I know all about you,
and because of your unfaithfulness,
I find you unacceptable.
4 Your evil deeds are the reason
you won’t return to me,
your Lord God.
And your constant craving for sex
keeps you from knowing me.
5 Israel, your pride
testifies to your guilt;
it makes you stumble,
and Judah stumbles too.
6 You offer sheep and cattle
as sacrifices to me,
but I have turned away
and refuse to be found.
7 You have been unfaithful
to me, your Lord;
you have had children
by prostitutes.[i]
So at the New Moon Festival,
you and your crops
will be destroyed.[j]
The Lord Warns Israel and Judah
8 Give a warning on the trumpet!
Let it be heard in Gibeah,
Ramah, and sinful Bethel.[k]
Benjamin, watch out![l]
9 I, the Lord, will punish
and wipe out Israel.
This is my solemn promise
to every tribe of Israel.
10 Judah’s leaders are like crooks
who move boundary markers;
that’s why I will flood them
with my anger.
11 Israel was brutally crushed.
They got what they deserved
for worshiping useless idols.[m]
12 Now I, the Lord,
will fill Israel with maggots
and make Judah rot.
13 When Israel and Judah saw
their sickness and wounds,
Israel asked help from Assyria
and its mighty king.[n]
But the king cannot cure them
or heal their wounds.
14 So I’ll become a fierce lion
attacking Israel and Judah.
I’ll snatch and carry off
what I want,
and no one can stop me.
15 Then I’ll return to my temple
until they confess their guilt
and worship me,
until they are desperate
and beg for my help.
Footnotes:
- 4.4 priests: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4. Hosea may have had in mind only one priest, possibly the chief priest.
- 4.15 sinful Bethel: The Hebrew text has “Beth-Aven,” which means “house of sin” or “house of nothing,” referring to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”
- 4.17 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole kingdom.
- 4.17 charmed by: Or “joined to.”
- 4.18 life: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
- 5.1 Israel: Probably meaning the tribal leaders of Israel.
- 5.1 Justice. . . duty. But: Or “You are doomed, because.”
- 5.2 At. . . pit: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 5.7 prostitutes: See 4.14, and the note at 1.2.
- 5.7 So. . . destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 5.8 sinful Bethel: See the note at 4.15. Gibeah is three miles north of Jerusalem, Ramah is five miles north, and Bethel is eleven miles north. The attack comes from the south, and all the land of Benjamin (belonging to Israel) is in danger.
- 5.8 watch out: Or “lead the way.”
- 5.11 for. . . idols: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 5.13 and. . . king: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
2 John
1 From the church leader.[a]
To a very special woman and her children.[b] I truly love all of you, and so does everyone else who knows the truth. 2 We love you because the truth is now in our hearts, and it will be there forever.
3 I pray that God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will be kind and merciful to us! May they give us peace and truth and love.
Truth and Love
4 I was very glad to learn that some of your children are obeying the truth, as the Father told us to do. 5 Dear friend, I am not writing to tell you and your children to do something you have not done before. I am writing to tell you to love each other, which is the first thing you were told to do. 6 Love means that we do what God tells us. And from the beginning, he told you to love him.
7 Many liars have gone out into the world. These deceitful liars are saying that Jesus Christ did not have a truly human body. But they are liars and the enemies of Christ. 8 So be sure not to lose what we[c] have worked for. If you do, you won’t be given your full reward. 9 Don’t keep changing what you were taught about Christ, or else God will no longer be with you. But if you hold firmly to what you were taught, both the Father and the Son will be with you. 10 If people won’t agree to this teaching, don’t welcome them into your home or even greet them. 11 Greeting them is the same as taking part in their evil deeds.
Final Greetings
12 I have much more to tell you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. I want to come and talk to you in person, because that will make us[d] really happy.
13 Greetings from the children of your very special sister.[e]
Footnotes:
- 1 church leader: Or “elder” or “presbyter” or “priest.”
- 1 very special woman and her children: A group of the Lord’s followers who met together for worship. “The children of your. . . sister” (see verse 13) is another group of followers. “Very special” (here and verse 13) probably means “chosen (by the Lord).”
- 8 we: Some manuscripts have “you.”
- 12 us: Some manuscripts have “you.”
- 13 sister: See the note at verse 1.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Psalm 125
(A song for worship.)
The Lord’s People Are Safe
125 Everyone who trusts the Lord
is like Mount Zion
that cannot be shaken
and will stand forever.
2 Just as Jerusalem is protected
by mountains on every side,
the Lord protects his people
by holding them in his arms
now and forever.
3 He won’t let the wicked
rule his people
or lead them to do wrong.
4 Let’s ask the Lord to be kind
to everyone
who is good
and completely obeys him.
5 When the Lord punishes
the wicked,
he will punish everyone else
who lives a crooked life.
Pray for peace in Israel!
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Proverbs 29:9-11
9 Be wise and don’t sue a fool.
You won’t get satisfaction,
because all the fool will do
is sneer and shout.
10 A murderer hates everyone
who is honest
and lives right.[a]
11 Don’t be a fool
and quickly lose your temper—
be sensible and patient.
Footnotes:
- 29.10 and lives right: Or “and those who live right are friends of honest people.”
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.