Hosea 14 Cross References - BSB

¹ Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. ² Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.” ⁴ I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them. ⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. ⁸ O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me. ⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

³ Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD.

⁶ So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see. ⁸ Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you. ⁹ For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

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.

¹² Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever. ¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD. ¹⁴ “Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.

¹ “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,

¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁴ You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. ¹⁵ From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you. ¹⁶ By the vastness of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I banished you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.

⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.

¹ Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

⁶ But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.

⁹ You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” ¹³ So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

³ So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’ ⁴ Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’ ¹⁹ So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.

¹⁰ After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

²¹ Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

³¹ Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more. ³² Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

² Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. ⁵ Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. ⁶ Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. ⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song and exalt Him with thanksgiving. ³¹ And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

⁷ And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

¹⁷ Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

⁴ So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

⁹ So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

¹¹ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

² So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ³ Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴ And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

¹³ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

²¹ The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

²⁷ And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

⁷ in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

¹⁴ He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁵ But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

²² You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

¹⁶ But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

¹⁴ But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

⁷ Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. ⁸ They collapse and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

⁵ A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

³ Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.

⁹ The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, ¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

²⁹ Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.

²⁰ In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.

⁹ Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

² They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

¹⁶ “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.

¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.

³ But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

⁸ Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ ²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD. ²¹ “Set up the roadmarks, establish the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours. ²² How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

⁷ and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths. ⁸ When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

¹⁷ For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

¹³ When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.

¹¹ So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.

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.

⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.

¹ Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.

¹⁰ “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots. ¹¹ I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds. ¹² I will cut the sorceries from your hand, and you will have no fortune-tellers. ¹³ I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands. ¹⁴ I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.

² And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

²⁶ saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.

⁷ The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

³⁸ And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

¹ In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.

¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

²² “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.

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.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

¹⁴ Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

⁶ Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.

⁷ My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.

¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

²⁴ and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

⁴ But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

² Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.

⁴ is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’

³⁰ And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.

¹⁹ My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

⁶ May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.

¹⁶ May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.

¹² A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹ I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. ² Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.

¹⁶ My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

⁵ Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁴ For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

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 In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

² It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

²² This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

⁷ Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.

²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.

²⁷ Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

²⁷ So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

⁸ But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.

⁹ You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. ¹⁰ The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches. ¹¹ It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.

¹¹ Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon. ¹² My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed. ¹³ Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard, ¹⁴ with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices. ¹⁵ You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

¹⁶ The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.

⁵ He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it by abundant waters and set it out like a willow. ⁶ It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height, with branches turned toward him; yet its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and yielded branches and sent out shoots. ⁷ But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it. ⁸ It had been planted in good soil by abundant waters in order to yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’

³ Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. ⁴ The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. ⁵ Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters. ⁶ All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters. ⁸ The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’ ¹⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,

¹⁰ In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great. ¹¹ The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed. ¹³ As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

³¹ He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.

¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.

¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, ¹⁸ do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either. ²² Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. ¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

¹⁸ I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

⁶ Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

⁷ If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.

³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

¹¹ I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.

¹ Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. ² Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

²³ I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

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

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

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹² “For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will yield its produce, and the skies will give their dew. To the remnant of this people I will give all these things as an inheritance.

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

³⁶ You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.

²⁷ Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.

³² Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

¹⁹ I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,

¹³ Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

¹³ The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.

¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ ²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

² Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

¹⁶ From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.” ⁴⁸ “How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. ² He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.

¹⁸ Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. ¹⁹ And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

⁹ for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹³ For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

¹³ I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

⁹ For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

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.

¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

³ For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. ⁴ Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

⁹ Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

¹⁰ Therefore listen to me, O men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wrong, and from the Almighty to act unjustly. ¹¹ For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences. ¹² Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly, and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

¹⁸ who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’ ¹⁹ who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

⁷ The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple. ⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁷ They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion.

⁴³ Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are trustworthy. ⁸ They are upheld forever and ever, enacted in truth and uprightness.

⁷⁵ I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

¹²⁸ Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.

⁵ let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel ⁶ by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

²⁹ The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil.

²⁸ But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

¹³ The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded. ¹⁴ And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare. ¹⁵ Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”

⁷ The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.

¹² Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?

²⁵ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

¹⁷ Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. ¹⁸ If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. ¹⁹ But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”

¹⁰ Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

⁵ The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”

¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

²⁸ On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged. ²⁹ They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.

²³ Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

³⁹ Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

³⁷ “Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

³² Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, ¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

⁷ To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.