Hosea 6 - 7 - Legacy Standard Bible

Hosea 6 - 7

Israel Chastised

“Come, let us return to Yahweh.

For He has torn us, but He will heal us;

He has struck us, but He will bandage us.

He will make us alive after two days;

He will raise us up on the third day,

That we may live before Him.

So let us know, let us pursue to know Yahweh.

His going forth is established as the dawn;

And He will come to us like the rain,

Like the late rain watering the earth.”

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

For your lovingkindness is like a morning cloud

And like the dew which goes away early.

Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets;

I have killed them by the words of My mouth;

And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.

For I delight in lovingkindness rather than sacrifice,

And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But like Adam they have trespassed against the covenant;

There they have dealt treacherously against Me.

Gilead is a city of workers of iniquity,

With a track of blood.

And as raiders wait for a man,

So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;

Surely they have committed lewdness.

In the house of Israel I have seen an appalling thing;

Ephraim’s harlotry is there; Israel has defiled itself.

Also, O Judah, there is a harvest set for you

When I restore the fortunes of My people,

When I would heal Israel,

Then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,

And the evil deeds of Samaria,

For they work falsehood;

The thief enters in;

Raiders ransack outside,

And they do not say to their hearts

That I remember all their evil.

Now their deeds are all around them;

They are before My face.

With their evil they make the king glad,

And the princes with their deceptions.

They are all adulterers,

Like an oven heated by the baker

Who ceases to stir up the fire

From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;

He stretched out his hand with scoffers,

For their hearts are like an oven

As they draw near in their plotting;

Their anger smolders all night;

In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

All of them are hot like an oven,

And they devour their judges;

All their kings have fallen.

None of them calls on Me.

Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;

Ephraim has become a cake not turned.

Strangers devour his power,

Yet he does not know it;

Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,

Yet he does not know it.

So the pride of Israel answers against him,

Yet they have not returned to Yahweh their God,

Nor have they sought Him, for all this.

So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without a heart of wisdom;

They call to Egypt; they go to Assyria.

When they go, I will spread My net over them;

I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.

I will chastise them in accordance with the report to their congregation.

Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!

Destruction is theirs, for they have transgressed against Me!

And I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

And they do not cry out to Me in their heart

When they wail on their beds;

For the sake of grain and new wine they gather together as sojourners;

They depart from Me.

Although I disciplined and strengthened their arms,

Yet they devise evil against Me.

They turn, but not upward;

They are like a deceitful bow;

Their princes will fall by the sword

Because of the indignation of their tongue.

This will be their scoffing in the land of Egypt.

Mark 12:1 - 13:27

Parable of the Vine‑Growers

And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

This has become the chief corner stone;

This came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

Taxes to Caesar

13 Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. 14 And they *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” 16 And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

18 Then some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up a seed for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first married a wife, and died leaving no seed. 21 And the second one married her, and died leaving behind no seed; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no seed. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But regarding the fact that the dead are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

The Foremost Commandment

28 And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions. 35 And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.”’

37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him. 38 And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes, and want respectful greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the crowd was putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which amount to a quadrans. 43 And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Signs of Christ’s Return

And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.” 3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. 8 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pains. 9 “But see to yourselves; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be beaten in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations. 11 And when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation

14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 And the one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his garment. 17 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 But pray that it may not happen in the winter. 19 For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. 20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; 22 for false christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But as for you, see! I have told you everything in advance.

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

Psalm 31

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed;

In Your righteousness protect me.

Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;

Be to me a rock of strength,

A fortress to save me.

For You are my high rock and my fortress;

For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

You will bring me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,

For You are my strength.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have ransomed me, O Yahweh, God of truth.

I hate those who regard worthless idols,

But I trust in Yahweh.

I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,

Because You have seen my affliction;

You have known the troubles of my soul,

And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy;

You have set my feet in a large place.

Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;

My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.

For my life is worn down with sorrow

And my years with sighing;

My strength fails because of my iniquity,

And my bones waste away.

Among all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,

Especially to my neighbors,

And an object of dread to my acquaintances;

Those who see me in the street flee from me.

I am forgotten like a dead man—out of mind—

I am like a broken vessel.

For I have heard the bad report of many,

Terror is on every side;

While they took counsel together against me,

They schemed to take my life.

But as for me, I trust in You, O Yahweh,

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in Your hand;

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who pursue me.

Make Your face to shine upon Your slave;

Save me in Your lovingkindness.

O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon You;

Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.

Let the lying lips be mute,

Which speak arrogantly against the righteous

With lofty pride and contempt.

How great is Your goodness,

Which You have stored up for those who fear You,

Which You have worked for those who take refuge in You,

Before the sons of men!

You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;

You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

Blessed be Yahweh,

For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.

As for me, I said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;

Nevertheless, You heard the voice of my supplications

When I cried to You for help.

Oh, love Yahweh, all you His holy ones!

Yahweh guards the faithful

But repays fully the one who acts in lofty pride.

Be strong and let your heart take courage,

All you who wait for Yahweh.