Through the Bible – Day 345

Bible text(s)

Hosea 1

Hosea's family is a picture of the Lord's unfaithful people

₁I am Hosea son of Beeri. When Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah, and when Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, the LORD spoke this message to me.

Hosea's family

₂The LORD said, “Hosea, Israel has betrayed me like an unfaithful wife. Marry such a woman and have children by her.” ₃So I married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and we had a son.

₄Then the LORD said, “Hosea, name your son Jezreel, because I will soon punish the descendants of King Jehu of Israel for the murders he committed in Jezreel Valley. I will destroy his kingdom, ₅and in Jezreel Valley I will break the power of Israel.”

₆Later, Gomer had a daughter, and the LORD said, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah, because I will no longer have mercy and forgive Israel. ₇But I am the LORD God of Judah, and I will have mercy and save Judah by my own power—not by wars and arrows or swords and cavalry.”

₈After Gomer had stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she had another son. ₉Then the LORD said, “Name him Lo-Ammi, because these people are not mine, and I am not their God.”

Hope for Israel

₁₀Some day it will be impossible to count the people of Israel, because there will be as many of them as there are grains of sand along the seashore. They are now called “Not My People”, but in the future they will be called “Children of the Living God”. ₁₁Israel and Judah will unite and choose one leader. Then they will take back their land, and this will be a great day for Jezreel.

Hosea 2

₁So let your brothers be called “My People” and your sisters be called “Shown Mercy”.

The LORD promises to punish Israel

₂Accuse! Accuse your mother!

She is no longer my wife,

and now I, the LORD,

am not her husband.

Beg her to give up prostitution

and stop being unfaithful,

₃or I will strip her naked

like the day she was born.

I will make her barren

like a desert,

and she will die of thirst.

₄You children are the result

of her unfaithfulness,

and I'll show you no pity.

₅Your mother was unfaithful.

She was disgraceful and said,

“I'll run after my lovers.

Everything comes from them—

my food and drink,

my linen and wool,

my olive oil and wine.”

₆I, the LORD, will build

a fence of thorns

to block her path.

₇She will run after her lovers,

but not catch them;

she will search,

but not find them.

Then she will say, “I'll return

to my first husband.

Life was better then.”

₈She didn't know that her grain,

wine, and olive oil

were gifts from me,

as were the gold and silver

she used in worshipping Baal.

₉So I'll hold back the harvest

of grain and grapes.

I'll take back

my wool and my linen

that cover her body.

₁₀Then I'll strip her naked

in the sight of her lovers.

No one can rescue her.

₁₁I'll stop Israel's celebrations—

no more New Moon Festivals,

Sabbaths, or other feasts.

₁₂She said, “My lovers gave me

vineyards and fig trees

as payment for sex.”

Now I, the LORD, will ruin

her vineyards and fig trees;

they will become clumps of weeds

eaten by wild animals.

₁₃I'll punish her for the days

she worshipped Baal

and burnt incense to him.

I'll punish her for the times

she forgot about me

and wore jewellery and rings

to attract her lovers.

I, the LORD, have spoken!

The LORD will help Israel

₁₄Israel, I, the LORD,

will lure you into the desert

and speak gently to you.

₁₅I will return your vineyards,

and then Trouble Valley

will become Hopeful Valley.

You will say “Yes” to me

as you did in your youth,

when leaving Egypt.

₁₆I promise that from that day on, you will call me your husband instead of your master. ₁₇I will no longer even let you mention the names of those pagan gods that you called “Master”. ₁₈And I will agree to let you live in peace—you will no longer be attacked by wild animals and birds or by weapons of war. ₁₉I will accept you as my wife for ever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness, ₂₀and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am.

₂₁I will command the sky to send rain on the earth, ₂₂and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley. ₂₃I will scatter the seeds and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.”

Hosea 3

God's love offers hope

₁Once again the LORD spoke to me. And this time he said, “Hosea, fall in love with an unfaithful woman who has a lover. Do this to show that I love the people of Israel, even though they worship idols and enjoy the offering cakes made with fruit.”

₂So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and about a hundred and fifty kilogrammes of grain for such a woman. ₃Then I said, “Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together.”

₄It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God. ₅But later, Israel will turn back to the LORD their God and to David their king. At that time they will come to the LORD with fear and trembling, and he will be good to them.

Hosea 4

The Lord accuses Israel, Judah, and their leaders

Israel is unfaithful

₁Israel, listen

as the LORD accuses

everyone in the land!

No one is faithful or loyal

or truly cares about God.

₂Cursing, dishonesty, murder,

robbery, unfaithfulness—

these happen all the time.

Violence is everywhere.

₃And so your land is a desert.

Every living creature is dying—

people and wild animals,

birds and fish.

The LORD warns the priests

₄Don't accuse just anyone!

Not everyone is at fault.

My case is against you,

the priests.

₅You and the prophets

will stumble day and night;

I'll silence your mothers.

₆You priests have rejected me,

and my people are destroyed

by refusing to obey.

Now I'll reject you and forget

your children, because you

have forgotten my Law.

₇By adding more of you priests,

you multiply the number

of people who sin.

Now I'll change your pride

into shame.

₈You encourage others to sin,

so you can stuff yourselves

on their sin offerings.

₉That's why I will punish

the people for their deeds,

just as I will punish

you priests.

₁₀Their food won't satisfy,

and having sex at pagan shrines

won't produce children.

My people have rebelled

₁₁and have been unfaithful

to me, their LORD.

God condemns Israel's idolatry

My people, you are foolish

because of too much pleasure

and too much wine.

₁₂You expect wooden idols

and other objects of wood

to give you advice.

Lusting for sex at pagan shrines

has made you unfaithful

to me, your God.

₁₃You offer sacrifices

on mountaintops and hills,

under oak trees, and wherever

good shade is found.

Your own daughters

and daughters-in-law

sell themselves for sex.

₁₄But I won't punish them.

You men are to blame,

because you go to prostitutes

and offer sacrifices with them

at pagan shrines.

Your own foolishness

will lead to your ruin.

₁₅Israel, you are unfaithful,

but don't lead Judah to sin.

Stop worshipping at Gilgal

or at sinful Bethel.

And stop making promises

in my name— the name

of the living LORD.

₁₆You are nothing more

than a stubborn cow—

so stubborn that I, the LORD,

cannot feed you like lambs

in an open pasture.

₁₇You people of Israel

are charmed by idols.

Leave them alone!

₁₈You get drunk, then sleep

with prostitutes;

you would rather be vulgar

than lead a decent life.

₁₉And so you will be swept away

in a whirlwind

for sacrificing to idols.

Hosea 1:1-4:19CEVOpen in Bible reader

Revelation 2

The letter to Thyatira

The risen Lord continued:

₁₈This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Thyatira:

I am the Son of God! My eyes are like flames of fire, and my feet are like bronze. Listen to what I say.

₁₉I know everything about you, including your love, your faith, your service, and how you have endured. I know that you are doing more now than you have ever done before. ₂₀But I still have something against you because of that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet, and you let her teach and mislead my servants to do immoral things and to eat food offered to idols. ₂₁I gave her a chance to turn from her sins, but she did not want to stop doing these immoral things.

₂₂I am going to strike down Jezebel. Everyone who does these immoral things with her will also be punished, if they don't stop. ₂₃I will even kill her followers. Then all the churches will see that I know everyone's thoughts and feelings. I will treat each of you as you deserve.

₂₄Some of you in Thyatira don't follow Jezebel's teaching. You don't know anything about what her followers call the “deep secrets of Satan”. So I won't burden you down with any other commands. ₂₅But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have.

₂₆I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. _27-28I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star.

₂₉If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3

The letter to Sardis

The risen Lord said:

₁This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:

I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.

I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. ₂Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. ₃Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.

₄A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. ₅Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life, and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.

₆If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:18-3:6CEVOpen in Bible reader