Hosea 13 Cross References - BSB

¹ When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died. ² Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!” ³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window. ⁴ Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me. ⁵ I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. ⁶ When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me. ⁷ So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. ⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart. ⁹ You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper. ¹⁰ Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? ¹¹ So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. ¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up. ¹³ Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb. ¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes. ¹⁵ Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article. ¹⁶ Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” ¹⁸ On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard: The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud, ¹⁹ and his division numbers 40,500. ²⁰ The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, ²¹ and his division numbers 32,200.

²² Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command.

⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;

¹⁶ These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.

¹⁶ “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation ¹⁷ who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” ¹⁸ And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and commission him in their sight. ²⁰ Confer on him some of your authority, so that the whole congregation of Israel will obey him. ²¹ He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.” ²² Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, ²³ and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.

⁷ Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

¹ Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.

¹ Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”

¹⁷ And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. ³¹ And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. ³² First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. ³³ Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

¹⁸ “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. ¹⁸ So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,

¹² Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

² Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

² But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.

¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

¹⁴ Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.

¹ Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

¹⁸ Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

¹³ “You must not bring the captives here,” they said, “for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the LORD and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel.”

²³ but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.

¹² Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ⁶ they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; ⁷ they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. ⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

⁵ Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.

¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.” ¹⁸ They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. ¹⁹ And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” ²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

²⁰ Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

⁶ They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.

⁸ Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!

⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

⁸ But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

⁸ For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.

⁴ They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

⁶ For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.

¹ Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.

⁶ A sword will flash through their cities; it will destroy the bars of their gates and consume them in their own plans.

¹⁸ What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. ¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁴ And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

¹³ while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

⁴ Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

² As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

¹² who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.” ¹³ Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. ¹⁴ As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze, ¹⁵ so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm. ¹⁶ Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. ¹⁷ May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.

¹³ The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

¹⁵ Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. ¹⁶ You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

³⁵ Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

⁴ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.

² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³ You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁹ There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god. ¹⁰ I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.

³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.

¹⁰ “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come. ¹¹ I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me. ¹² I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. ¹³ Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

⁶ Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me. ⁷ Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place. ⁸ Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

²¹ Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me. ²² Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

⁹ But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

²⁵ God saw the Israelites and took notice.

⁷ Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

¹⁵ He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.

¹⁰ He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

⁶ For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving devotion, for You have seen my affliction; You have known the anguish of my soul.

¹ A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

³ Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

² “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

⁷ The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.

³ But the one who loves God is known by God.

⁹ But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

¹⁰ And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build, ¹¹ with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹³ He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag, ¹⁴ with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine. ¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁸ You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness. ²⁶ But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

³⁵ For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

¹⁰ For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—

³¹ You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’? ³² Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

¹³ I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

¹³ The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:

⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

¹⁰ He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.

¹⁴ For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.

² He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”

⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?

⁸ The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?

⁸ He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.

²² Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

¹³ The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

¹² It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

²⁹ Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.

⁹ Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.

⁹ Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.

¹ I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape. ² Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down. ³ Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

²⁶ “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.

²⁹ Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

⁷ All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods ⁸ and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. ⁹ The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. ¹² They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. ¹⁵ They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

²⁰ Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.

¹ For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.

¹ A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

³² He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

³⁶ But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

⁹ The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

¹⁷ Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?

¹⁹ Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

¹⁸ “Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”

²⁵ Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

⁴ Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.

¹ Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

⁹ “But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. ⁴ For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love ⁵ He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

³⁷ He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, ³⁸ which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter! ³⁹ See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

¹⁶ Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done. ¹⁸ Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.

⁵ “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” ⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

¹⁹ Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”

¹¹ So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. ¹² But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

⁴ But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

¹⁶ The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land.

⁴ You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises! ⁷ For God is King of all the earth; sing profound praises to Him.

¹² Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.

¹⁸ Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

²² For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.

¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, and your King.”

²⁸ But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.

¹⁹ Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”

³ Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?”

⁹ On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.

⁴⁹ “Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. ⁸ Just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁹ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

¹³ Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.

²² But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

¹ Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day. ⁷ When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

²⁶ Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves. ³¹ Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites. ³² And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over My people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you were not like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back. ¹⁰ Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone! ¹¹ Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.’ For the LORD has spoken. ¹² As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. For this is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will receive a proper burial, because only in him has the LORD, the God of Israel, found any good in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day—yes, even today! ¹⁵ For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. ¹⁶ So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

¹ In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. ³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

² A land in rebellion has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

⁷ Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water.

³⁴ “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults? ³⁵ Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

¹⁷ My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁹ It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

³ to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

⁶ Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor.

³ The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

⁸ Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.

¹⁷ As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

³ to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

⁹ Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God.

³¹ For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”

²¹ What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?

²³ O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”

⁶ Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

²⁴ Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.

⁹ Why do you now cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor? ¹⁰ Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will leave the city and camp in the open fields. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies!

²⁹ Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴ Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

²⁵ As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

² For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,

¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

²⁹ Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”

²⁵ But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. ²⁶ Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. ²⁷ I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’

¹⁰ For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

³ O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.

¹⁵ But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah

²⁰ Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

¹³ For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

⁸ He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.

¹⁹ Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

⁶ You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

² After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

⁶ “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

²⁹ For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.

²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

⁵² in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁴ So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

²¹ who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

⁴ ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵² And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

¹⁹ But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

²² Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.

¹⁷ His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁶ The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.

¹³ May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.

²¹ Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.

¹⁶ You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹¹ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;

⁵ I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

³⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

¹⁰ Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

¹² But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.

⁸ He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,

¹⁹ The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

¹¹ Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

⁹ “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.

¹² “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

¹⁶ At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

¹⁸ So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,

⁹ Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?

⁸ O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. ⁹ Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

⁸ For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people. ⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”

⁴ For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.

³ The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁴ They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me.

² Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.

¹⁴ the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children. ¹⁵ Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

¹³ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.

⁹ Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod and to the citadels of Egypt: “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest in the city and the acts of oppression in her midst.”

¹ Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. ² Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? ³ You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. ⁴ You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. ⁵ You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. ⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph. ⁷ Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end. ⁸ The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”

¹ I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.

⁴ The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

¹⁶ You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

¹⁰ Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.