Hosea 10 - 11, Mark 15 - 16, Psalm 33

You Have Sinned, O Israel

10Israel is a ¹luxuriant ^avine;He produces fruit for himself.The more abundant his fruit,The more altars he ^babounded;The better his land,The better ²he made the sacred ^cpillars.²Their heart is ¹^,^afaithless;Now they must bear their ^bguilt.²Yahweh will ^cbreak down their altarsAnd destroy their sacred pillars.³Surely now they will say, “We have ^ano king,For we do not fear Yahweh.As for the king, what can he do for us?”⁴They speak mere words;¹With ^aworthless oaths they cut covenants;And ^bjudgment flourishes like gall in the furrows of the field.⁵The dweller of Samaria will fearFor the ¹^,^acalf of ^bBeth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn for it,And its ^cidolatrous priests ²will cry out over it,Over its ^dglory, since it has gone into exile from them.⁶The thing itself will be carried to ^aAssyriaAs tribute to ¹^,^bKing Jareb;Ephraim will ^creceive shame,And Israel will be ashamed of its ^down counsel.⁷Samaria will be ^aruined with her kingLike a stick on the surface of the water.⁸Also the ^ahigh places of Aven, the ^bsin of Israel, will be ¹eradicated;^cThorn and thistle will grow on their altars;Then they will ^dsay to the mountains,“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”⁹From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;There they stand!Will not the battle against the sons of injustice overtake them in Gibeah?¹⁰When it is My ^adesire, I will ¹^,^bchastise them;And ^cthe peoples will be gathered against themWhen they are bound for their double guilt.

The Trained Heifer

¹¹And Ephraim is a trained ^aheifer that loves to thresh,But I will ^bcome over her fair neck with a yoke;I will harness Ephraim;Judah will plow; Jacob will harrow for himself.¹²^aSow with a view to righteousness,Reap in accordance with lovingkindness;^bBreak up your fallow ground,Indeed, it is time to ^cseek YahwehUntil He ^dcomes and ¹^,^erains righteousness on you.¹³You have ^aplowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice;You have eaten the fruit of ^bdeception.Because you have trusted in your way, in your ^cabundant warriors,¹⁴Therefore a rumbling will arise among your people,And all your ^afortifications will be destroyed,As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,When ^bmothers were dashed in pieces with their children.¹⁵Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your evil of evils.At dawn the king of Israel will be completely ruined.

The Beloved Son

11When Israel was a youth I loved him,And ^aout of Egypt I ^bcalled My son.²The more ¹^,^athey called them,The more they went from ²them;They kept ^bsacrificing to the BaalsAnd ^cburning incense to graven images.³Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk;¹I ^atook them in My arms;But they did not know that I ^bhealed them.⁴I ^aled them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,And ^bI became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;And I bent down and ^cfed them.⁵¹They will not return to the land of Egypt;But Assyria—he will be ²their kingBecause they ^arefused to return to Me.⁶And the ^asword will whirl against ¹their citiesAnd will consume ²their gate barsAnd ^bdevour them because of their ^ccounsels.⁷So My people are hung up on ^aturning from Me.Though ¹they call ²them to the One on high,None at all exalts Him.⁸^aHow can I give you up, O Ephraim?How can I surrender you, O Israel?How can I give you over to be like ^bAdmah?How can I make you like ^cZeboiim?My heart is turned over within Me;¹All My compassions are stirred.⁹I will ^anot execute My burning anger;I will not make Ephraim a ruin ^bagain.For ^cI am God and not man, the ^dHoly One in your midst,And I will not come in ¹wrath.¹⁰They will ^awalk after Yahweh;He will ^broar like a lion;Indeed, He will roar,And His sons will come ^ctrembling from the west.¹¹They will come trembling like birds from ^aEgyptAnd like ^bdoves from the land of ^cAssyria;And I will ^dsettle them in their houses, declares Yahweh.¹²¹Ephraim surrounds Me with ²^,^aliesAnd the house of Israel with deceit;And Judah is also unruly against God,Even against the Holy One who is faithful.

Jesus Before Pilate

15^aAnd early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole ^bSanhedrin, immediately held council; and binding Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. ²^aAnd Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and *said, “You yourself say it.” ³And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. ⁴Then Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “You answer nothing? See how many accusations they bring against You!” ⁵But Jesus ^amade no further answer; so Pilate marveled.

⁶^aNow at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸And the crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him over because of envy. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^ato ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^ascourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

¹⁶^aSo the soldiers took Him away into ^bthe ¹palace (that is, the ²Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ³^,^ccohort. ¹⁷And they *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they *put it on Him; ¹⁸and they began to greet Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹And they kept beating His head with a ¹reed, and spitting on Him; and kneeling, they were bowing down before Him. ²⁰And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

²¹^aAnd they *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^bRufus), to ¹carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

²²^aThen they *brought Him to the place ^bGolgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³And they tried to give Him ^awine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴And they *crucified Him, and *^adivided up His garments among themselves, casting ¹lots for them to decide who should take what. ²⁵Now it was the ¹^,^athird hour, and they crucified Him. ²⁶And the inscription of the charge against Him ¹read, “^aTHE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷And they *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. ²⁸¹[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] ²⁹And those passing by were blaspheming Him, ^ashaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^bdestroy the ¹sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way, mocking Him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, “^aHe saved others; ¹He cannot save Himself. ³²“Let this ¹Christ, ^athe King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^bThose who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

³³^aAnd when the ¹^,^bsixth hour came, darkness ²fell over the whole land until the ³^,^cninth hour. ³⁴And at the ^aninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^bEloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Look, He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “¹Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” ³⁷^aAnd Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed His last. ³⁸^aAnd the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹^aAnd when the centurion, who was standing ¹right in front of Him, saw ²the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰^aAnd there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James ^bthe ¹Less and Joses, and ^cSalome, ⁴¹who, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and ¹^,^aserving Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

⁴²^aAnd when evening had already come, because it was ¹^,^bPreparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^aprominent ¹Council member, who himself was ^bwaiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^cgathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴And Pilate wondered if He had died by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He already died. ⁴⁵And ascertaining this from ^athe centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷^aAnd Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He had been laid.

Jesus Is Risen!

16^aAnd when the Sabbath passed, ^bMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, ^cbought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away ^athe stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴And looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, ¹although it was very large. ⁵^aAnd entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, wearing a white robe; and they ^bwere amazed. ⁶And he *said to them, “^aDo not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the ^bNazarene, who has been crucified. ^cHe has risen; He is not here; behold, the place where they laid Him. ⁷“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘^aHe is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” ⁸And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment were gripping them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

⁹¹[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to ^aMary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰^aShe went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and crying. ¹¹And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, ^athey refused to believe it.

¹²After that, ^aHe appeared in a different form ^bto two of them while they were walking along on their way to the countryside. ¹³And they went away and reported it to the others, but they ^adid not believe them either.

The Great Commission

¹⁴Afterward ^aHe appeared ^bto the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their ^cunbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵And He said to them, “^aGo into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶“^aHe who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷“And these ¹signs will accompany those who have believed: ^ain My name they will cast out demons, they will ^bspeak with new tongues; ¹⁸and they will ^apick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will ^blay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then, the Lord Jesus, after He had ^aspoken to them, ^bwas taken up into heaven and ^csat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the ¹signs that followed.] ²[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable preaching of eternal salvation.]

Yahweh Is Our Help and Our Shield

33^aSing for joy in Yahweh, O righteous ones;Praise is ^bbecoming to the upright.²Give thanks to Yahweh with the ^alyre;Sing praises to Him with a ^bharp of ten strings.³Sing to Him a ^anew song;Play skillfully with ^ba loud shout.⁴For the word of Yahweh ^ais upright,And all His work is done ^bin faithfulness.⁵He ^aloves righteousness and justice;The ^bearth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh.⁶By the ^aword of Yahweh the heavens were made,And ^bby the breath of His mouth ^call their host.⁷He gathers the ^awaters of the sea ¹as a heap;He lays up the deeps in storehouses.⁸Let ^aall the earth fear Yahweh;Let all the inhabitants of the world ^bstand in awe of Him.⁹For ^aHe spoke, and it was;He commanded, and it ¹stood.¹⁰Yahweh ^anullifies the counsel of the nations;He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples.¹¹The ^acounsel of Yahweh stands forever,The ^bthoughts of His heart from generation to generation.¹²Blessed is the ^anation whose God is Yahweh,The people whom He has ^bchosen for His own inheritance.¹³Yahweh ^alooks from heaven;He ^bsees all the sons of men;¹⁴From ^athe place of His habitation He gazesOn all the inhabitants of the earth,¹⁵He who ^aforms ¹the hearts of them all,He who ^bunderstands all their works.¹⁶^aThe king is not saved by a mighty army;A warrior is not delivered by great strength.¹⁷A ^ahorse is a false hope for salvation;Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.¹⁸Behold, ^athe eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him,On those who ^bwait for His lovingkindness,¹⁹To ^adeliver their soul from deathAnd to keep them alive ^bin famine.²⁰Our soul ^ais patient for Yahweh;He is our ^bhelp and our shield.²¹For our ^aheart is glad in Him,Because we trust in His holy name.²²Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us,As we wait for You.