Wednesday, 11 December

1.   "Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, Because you have been a snare to Mizpah And a net spread on Tabor. 2.   The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, Though I rebuke them all. 3.   I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled. 4.   "They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the LORD. 5.   The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. 6.   "With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the LORD, But they will not find Him ; He has withdrawn Himself from them. 7.   They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage. 8.   "Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘ Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ 9.   Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 10.   "The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. 11.   Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept. 12.   Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness. 13.   "When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. 14.   For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. 15.   I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

1.   Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2.   After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. 3.   Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. 4.   "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. 5.   Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. 6.   For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 7.   "But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me. 8.   Gilead is a city of evildoers, And defiled with blood. 9.   As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they commit lewdness. 10.   I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: There is the harlotry of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. 11.   Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, When I return the captives of My people.

1.   "When I would have healed Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, And the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; A thief comes in; A band of robbers takes spoil outside. 2.   They do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness; Now their own deeds have surrounded them; They are before My face. 3.   They make a king glad with their wickedness, And princes with their lies. 4.   "They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker––He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, Until it is leavened. 5.   In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers. 6.   They prepare their heart like an oven, While they lie in wait; Their baker sleeps all night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7.   They are all hot, like an oven, And have devoured their judges; All their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. 8.   "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. 9.   Aliens have devoured his strength, But he does not know it ; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, Yet he does not know it . 10.   And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, But they do not return to the LORD their God, Nor seek Him for all this. 11.   "Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense––They call to Egypt, They go to Assyria. 12.   Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them According to what their congregation has heard. 13.   "Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, Because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, Yet they have spoken lies against Me. 14.   They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds. "They assemble together for grain and new wine, They rebel against Me; 15.   Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms, Yet they devise evil against Me; 16.   They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

1.   "Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law. 2.   Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’ 3.   Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him. 4.   "They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them . From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves––That they might be cut off. 5.   Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them––How long until they attain to innocence? 6.   For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 7.   "They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up. 8.   Israel is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is no pleasure. 9.   For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers. 10.   Yes, though they have hired among the nations, Now I will gather them; And they shall sorrow a little, Because of the burden of the king of princes. 11.   "Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for sinning. 12.   I have written for him the great things of My law, But they were considered a strange thing. 13.   For the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it, But the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt. 14.   "For Israel has forgotten his Maker, And has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send fire upon his cities, And it shall devour his palaces."

1.   "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2.   "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3.   "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4.   "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5.   "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place––unless you repent. 6.   "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7.   "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."’ 8.   "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: 9.   "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10.   "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11.   "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."’ 12.   "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two–edged sword: 13.   "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is . And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14.   "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15.   "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16.   ‘Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. 17.   "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it ."’ 18.   "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19.   "I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20.   "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21.   "And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22.   "Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23.   "I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. 24.   "Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25.   "But hold fast what you have till I come. 26.   "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations–– 27.   ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ –– as I also have received from My Father; 28.   "and I will give him the morning star. 29.   "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."’