Daily Reading

1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, / And out of Egypt I called My son.

2 As they called them, / So they went from them; / To the Baals they sacrificed, / And to the idols they burned incense.

3 And it was I who taught Ephraim to walk / (He took them in His arms), / But they did not know that I healed them.

4 I drew them with cords of a man, / With bands of love; And I was to them like those / Who lift off the yoke on their jaws; / And I gently caused them to eat.

5 They will not return to the land of Egypt, / But the Assyrian will be their king, / For they refused to return to Me.

6 And the sword will whirl about in their cities / And will consume their bars, / And it will devour them because of their own counsels.

7 Indeed My people are bent upon turning away from Me; / Though they call them to Him who is on high, / None at all exalts Him.

8 How shall I give you up, O Ephraim? / How shall I deliver you up, O Israel? / How can I make you like Admah? / How can I treat you like Zeboim? / My heart is turned within Me; / All My compassions have warmed.

9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; / I will not return to destroy Ephraim; / For I am God and not man, / The Holy One in the midst of you, / And I will not come in wrath.

10 They will walk after Jehovah; / He will roar like a lion. / For He will roar, / And the children will come trembling from the west.

11 They will come trembling like a bird from Egypt / And like a dove from the land of Assyria. / And I will cause them to dwell in their houses, / Declares Jehovah.

12 Ephraim encompasses Me with lies, / And the house of Israel, with deceit; / And Judah is yet unsteadfast with God / And with the Holy One, the Faithful One.

1 Ephraim feeds on wind / And follows the east wind continually; / He multiplies lies and violence. / They make a covenant with Assyria, / And oil is carried into Egypt.

2 Jehovah has also a controversy with Judah / And will punish Jacob according to his ways; / According to his doings He will recompense him.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother by the heel, / And in his full strength he contended with God.

4 Indeed he contended with the Angel and prevailed; / He wept and made supplication to Him. / At Bethel he found Him; / And there He spoke with us,

5 Even Jehovah the God of hosts; / Jehovah is His memorial.

6 And you, return there to your God; / Keep lovingkindness and justice, / And wait on your God continually.

7 He is a merchant; / In his hand are balances of deceit; / He loves to extort.

8 And Ephraim said, / I have surely become rich; / I have found wealth for myself. / In all my labors / They will find with me / No iniquity, which would be sin.

9 But I have been Jehovah your God / Since the land of Egypt; / Yet again I will cause you to dwell in tents / As in the days of the appointed feast.

10 I have also spoken unto the prophets: / And I have multiplied vision, / And through the prophets I have used similitudes.

11 Is Gilead iniquity? They are altogether vanity. / In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen; / Indeed their altars are like heaps / In the furrows of a field.

12 And Jacob fled into the country of Aram; / And Israel served for a wife, / And for a wife he kept sheep.

13 And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up from Egypt, / And by a prophet he was kept.

14 Ephraim provoked Him to bitter anger; / Therefore his Lord will leave his bloodshed upon him / And will recompense him with his own reproach.

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. / He exalted himself in Israel; / But he trespassed through Baal and died.

2 And now they sin more and more / And make molten images for themselves out of their silver, / Idols according to their own understanding, / All of it the work of craftsmen. / Of them they say, / Let the men who sacrifice / Kiss the calves.

3 Therefore they will be like a morning cloud / And like dew that departs early, / Like chaff driven by a storm wind from the threshing floor / And like smoke from a window vent.

4 But I have been Jehovah your God / Since the land of Egypt; / And you were to know no god except Me, / For there is no savior besides Me.

5 I knew you in the wilderness, / In the land of great drought.

6 According to their pasturage they became full; / They became full, and their heart was exalted; / Therefore they have forgotten Me.

7 Thus I will be to them like a lion; / Like a leopard I will watch them along the way.

8 I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs, / And I will tear away the covering of their heart; / And I will devour them there like a lioness; / The beast of the field will tear them to pieces.

9 It is your destruction, O Israel, / That you are against Me, against your help.

10 Where then is your king, / That he may save you in all your cities, / And your judges of whom you said, / Give me a king and some princes?

11 I gave you a king in My anger / And took him away in My overflowing wrath.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; / His sin is laid up in store.

13 The pains of a woman giving birth will come upon him. / He is an unwise son; / For he should not delay at the time / The children break forth.

14 From the power of Sheol I will ransom them; / From death I will redeem them. / Where are your plagues, O death? / Where is your destruction, O Sheol? / Repentance will be hidden from My eyes.

15 Even if he should be fruitful among his brothers, / An east wind will come, / A wind of Jehovah / Coming up from the wilderness, / And his spring will become dry, / And his fountain will be dried up. / He will plunder the treasure / Of every desirable vessel.

16 Samaria will be guilty, / For she rebelled against her God. / They will fall by the sword; / Their children will be dashed in pieces, / And their pregnant women will be ripped up.

1 Return, O Israel, / To Jehovah your God, / For you have fallen by your iniquity.

2 Take words with you, / And return to Jehovah; / Say to Him, / Forgive all iniquity, / And take us graciously; / Thus we will render our lips as bulls.

3 Assyria will not save us; / We will not ride upon horses. / Neither will we say again to the work of our hands, Our God! / Because in You the orphan finds compassion.

4 I will heal their apostasy; / I will love them freely; / For My anger has turned away from him.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; / He will bud like the lily / And will send forth his roots like the trees of Lebanon.

6 His shoots will go forth; / And his splendor will be like that of the olive tree, / And his fragrance, like that of the trees of Lebanon.

7 Those who sit under his shade will return; / They will revive like grain / And will bud like the vine; / His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim says, What have I yet to do with idols? / I respond and look on him. / I am like a green fir tree; / From Me your fruit is found.

9 Who is wise? / Then let him understand these things. / Who is intelligent? Then let him know them. / For the ways of Jehovah are right, / And the righteous will walk in them, / But the transgressors will stumble in them.

1 After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.

2 Immediately I was in spirit; and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting;

3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.

4 And around the throne there were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and upon their heads golden crowns.

5 And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

6 And before the throne there was as it were a glassy sea like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

7 And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature like a calf, and the third living creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings apiece, are full of eyes around and within; and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.

9 And when the four living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits upon the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

10 The twenty-four elders will fall before Him who sits upon the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever; and they will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created.

1 And I saw on the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?

3 And no one in heaven nor on the earth nor under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.

4 And I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.

5 And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals.

6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne.

8 And when He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which bowls are the prayers of the saints.

9 And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain and have purchased for God by Your blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10 And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.

11 And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and their number was ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands,

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.

14 And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.