Hosea 5; Hosea 6; Hosea 7; Hosea 8; Revelation 2

1 Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, house of the king! The judgment concerns you because you have been a trap at Mizpah, and a net spread out upon Tabor.

2 In their wicked condition, they have sunk deep into corruption; I will correct them through judgment.

3 I know Ephraim; Israel doesn't escape my eye; for now Ephraim you have acted like a prostitute; Israel is defiled.

4 Their deeds don't allow them to return to their God, because the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don't know the LORD.

5 Israel's pride is a witness against him; both Israel and Ephraim stagger because of their guilt; Judah staggers with them.

6 With their sheep and their cattle they will go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have acted faithlessly against the LORD; for their children have produced illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them along with their fields.

8 Blow a horn in Gibeah; blow a trumpet in Ramah. Sound the warning at Beth-aven: "Look behind you, Benjamin!"

9 Ephraim will become a horrible place on the Judgment Day. Against the tribes of Israel I will certainly announce what is to take place.

10 The princes of Judah act like raiders who steal the land; I will pour out my anger like water upon them.

11 Ephraim is under pressure from its enemies; Ephraim's rights aren't protected. This is because Ephraim chose to pursue worthless things.

12 Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and Ephraim sent for the great king. But he could not heal them; nor could he cure their wound.

14 I am like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I am the one who tears the prey and goes forth; no one can snatch it from me.

15 I will leave so that I can return to my place until they pay for their deeds, until they seek me. In their distress, they will beg for my favor:

1 "Come, let's return to the LORD; for it is he who has injured us and will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will bind us up.

2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, so that we may live before him.

3 Let's know, let's press on to know the LORD; whose appearing is as certain as the dawn; who will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that give drink to the earth."

4 Ephraim, what will I do with you? Judah, what will I do with you? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that vanishes quickly.

5 Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth like a light.

6 I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

7 But like Adam they broke the covenant; then they acted in bad faith against me.

8 Gilead is a city of wicked people, tracked with blood.

9 As robbers lie in wait for someone, so the priests are in league with each other; they murder on the road to Shechem; they have done evil things.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible; Ephraim acts like a prostitute; Israel is defiled.

11 For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I would improve the circumstances of my people.

1 When I would heal Israel, the evil acts of Ephraim are exposed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; for they deceive and steal, a thief breaks in; a group of bandits raid outside.

2 But they don't consider within their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds show who they are, right in front of my face.

3 By their wickedness they make the king glad, and give joy to the officials with their lies.

4 They all act like adulterers; they are like a heated oven, whose baker doesn't need to stoke the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

5 On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand to those who mocked him.

6 They approach like a hot oven, their hearts burning. Throughout the night, their anger smolders; in the morning, it continues to burn like a flaming fire.

7 All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; none of them call upon me.

8 Ephraim mixes himself among the people; Ephraim is like flatbread that is cooked on only one side.

9 Strangers have eaten up his strength, yet he doesn't know it; gray hairs are sprinkled here and there upon him, yet he doesn't know it.

10 Israel's pride is a witness against him; yet they don't return to the LORD their God, or seek him because of all this.

11 Ephraim has become like a dove, silly and without common sense; they call upon Egypt; they go to Assyria.

12 As they go, I will spread my net over them; like birds in the sky, I will bring them down; I will judge them according to the report made to their assembly.

13 Doom to them, for they have strayed from me; destruction will be their lot because they have rebelled against me. I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.

14 They don't cry to me from the heart, but they sob upon their beds; they fight over grain and wine; they resist me.

15 It was I who gave them their strength, yet they plot evil against me.

16 They return, but not to the Most High; they have become like a worthless bow; their officials will fall by the sword because of the rage of their tongues; in Egypt they will make fun of them.

1 Put a trumpet to your lips! It's as if a bird of prey has flown over the LORD's house, because they have broken my covenant, and have not kept my Instruction.

2 Israel cries to me, "My God, we know you!"

3 Israel has turned away from the good; the enemy will pursue him.

4 They set up kings, but not through me; they chose princes, but without my knowledge. With silver and gold they crafted idols for their own destruction.

5 Your calf is rejected, Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they remain guilty?

6 The calf is from Israel, a person made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be smashed.

7 Because they sow the wind, they will get the whirlwind. Standing grain, but no fresh growth; it will yield no meal; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

8 Israel is swallowed up; among the nations, they are now like a useless jar.

9 They have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.

10 Though they have bargained with the nations, I will now gather them up. They will soon be diminished due to the burden of kings and princes.

11 When Ephraim added more altars to take away sin, they became altars to him for sinning.

12 Even though I write out for him a large number of my instructions, they are regarded as strange.

13 Though they offer choice sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the LORD doesn't accept them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.

14 Israel has forgotten his maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied walled cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it will devour his fortresses.

1 “Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus: These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. I also know that you don't put up with those who are evil. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars.

3 You have shown endurance and put up with a lot for my name's sake, and you haven't gotten tired.

4 But I have this against you: you have let go of the love you had at first.

5 So remember the high point from which you have fallen. Change your hearts and lives and do the things you did at first. If you don't, I'm coming to you. I will move your lampstand from its place if you don't change your hearts and lives.

6 But you have this in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, which I also hate.

7 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will allow those who emerge victorious to eat from the tree of life, which is in God's paradise.

8 “Write this to the angel of the church in Smyrna: These are the words of the one who is the first and the last, who died and came back to life:

9 I know your hardship and poverty (though you are actually rich). I also know the hurtful things that have been spoken about you by those who say they are Jews (though they are not, but are really Satan's synagogue).

10 Don't be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison in order to test you. You will suffer hardship for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who emerge victorious won't be hurt by the second death.

12 “Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum: These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword:

13 I know that you are living right where Satan's throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn't break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives.

14 But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam's teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

15 In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans' teaching.

16 So change your hearts and lives. If you don't, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth.

17 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.

18 “Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira: These are the words of God's Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass.

19 I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first.

20 But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols.

21 I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution.

22 Look! I'm throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don't change their hearts from following her practices—

23 and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I'm the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve.

24 As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don't follow this teaching and haven't learned the so-called "deep secrets" of Satan—I won't burden you with anything else.

25 Just hold on to what you have until I come.

26 To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations—

27 to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery—

28 just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star.

29 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.