HOSEA 12-14

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Ephraim Reminded12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind,

And pursues the east wind continually;

He multiplies lies and violence.

Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria,

And oil is carried to Egypt.

2 The LORD also has a dispute with Judah,

And will punish Jacob according to his ways;

He will repay him according to his deeds.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,

And in his maturity he contended with God.

4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;

He wept and sought His favor.

He found Him at Bethel

And there He spoke with us,

5 Even the LORD, the God of hosts,

The LORD is His name.

6 Therefore, return to your God,

Observe kindness and justice,

And wait for your God continually.

7 A merchant, in whose hands are false balances,

He loves to oppress.

8 And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich,

I have found wealth for myself;

In all my labors they will find in me

No iniquity, which would be sin.”

9 But I have been the LORD your God since the land of Egypt;

I will make you live in tents again,

As in the days of the appointed festival.

10 I have also spoken to the prophets,

And I gave numerous visions,

And through the prophets I gave parables.

11 Is there iniquity in Gilead?

Surely they are worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,

Yes, their altars are like the stone heaps

Beside the furrows of the field.

12 Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram,

And Israel worked for a wife,

And for a wife he kept sheep.

13 But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel from Egypt,

And by a prophet he was kept.

14 Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger;

So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him

And bring back his reproach to him.

Ephraim’s Idolatry13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.

He exalted himself in Israel,

But through Baal he did wrong and died.

2 And now they sin more and more,

And make for themselves molten images,

Idols skillfully made from their silver,

All of them the work of craftsmen.

They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”

3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloud

And like dew which soon disappears,

Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor

And like smoke from a chimney.

4 Yet I have been the LORD your God

Since the land of Egypt;

And you were not to know any god except Me,

For there is no savior besides Me.

5 I cared for you in the wilderness,

In the land of drought.

6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,

And being satisfied, their heart became proud;

Therefore they forgot Me.

7 So I will be like a lion to them;

Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.

8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,

And I will tear open their chests;

There I will also devour them like a lioness,

As a wild beast would tear them.

9 It is your destruction, O Israel,

That you are against Me, against your help.

10 Where now is your king

That he may save you in all your cities,

And your judges of whom you requested,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11 I gave you a king in My anger

And took him away in My wrath.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

His sin is stored up.

13 The pains of childbirth come upon him;

He is not a wise son,

For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.

14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?

Shall I redeem them from death?

O Death, where are your thorns?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

15 Though he flourishes among the reeds,

An east wind will come,

The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness;

And his fountain will become dry

And his spring will be dried up;

It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

16 Samaria will be held guilty,

For she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword,

Their little ones will be dashed in pieces,

And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

Israel’s Future Blessing14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,

For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take words with you and return to the LORD.

Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity

And receive us graciously,

That we may present the fruit of our lips.

3 “Assyria will not save us,

We will not ride on horses;

Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’

To the work of our hands;

For in You the orphan finds mercy.”

4 I will heal their apostasy,

I will love them freely,

For My anger has turned away from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

He will blossom like the lily,

And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

6 His shoots will sprout,

And his beauty will be like the olive tree

And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

7 Those who live in his shadow

Will again raise grain,

And they will blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

From Me comes your fruit.

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 will walk in them,

But transgressors will stumble in them.

PROVERBS 2

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The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security2:1 My son, if you will receive my words

And treasure my commandments within you,

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,

Incline your heart to understanding;

3 For if you cry for discernment,

Lift your voice for understanding;

4 If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD

And discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 Guarding the paths of justice,

And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice

And equity and every good course.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart

And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 Discretion will guard you,

Understanding will watch over you,

12 To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the man who speaks perverse things;

13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness

To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who delight in doing evil

And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

15 Whose paths are crooked,

And who are devious in their ways;

16 To deliver you from the strange woman,

From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

17 That leaves the companion of her youth

And forgets the covenant of her God;

18 For her house sinks down to death

And her tracks lead to the dead;

19 None who go to her return again,

Nor do they reach the paths of life.

20 So you will walk in the way of good men

And keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will live in the land

And the blameless will remain in it;

22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land

And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

REVELATION 6

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The First Seal--Rider on White Horse  6:1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
The Second Seal--War    3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” 4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
The Third Seal--Famine    5 When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
The Fourth Seal--Death    7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The Fifth Seal--Martyrs    9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
The Sixth Seal--Terror    12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”