GOD’S CASE AGAINST JACOB’S HEIRS

12 Ephraim chasesJ the windat

and pursues the east wind.au

He continually multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a covenant with Assyria,av

and olive oil is carried to Egypt.aw

2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.

He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct;a

he will repay him based on his actions.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,b

and as an adult he wrestled with God.c

4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought his favor.d

He found him at Bethel,e

and there he spoke with him.A,f

5 The Lord is the God of Armies;

the Lord is his name.g

6 But you must return to your God.h

Maintain love and justice,i

and always put your hope in God.j

7 A merchant loves to extortk

with dishonest scales in his hands.l

8 But Ephraim thinks,

“How rich I have become;m

I made it all myself.

In all my earnings,

no one can find any iniquity in men

that I can be punished for!”B

JUDGMENT ON APOSTATE ISRAEL

9 I have been the Lord your God

ever sinceC the land of Egypt.o

I will make you live in tents again,p

as in the festival days.

10 I will speak through the prophetsq

and grant many visions;

I will give parables through the prophets.r

11 Since Gilead is full of evil,s

they will certainly come to nothing.

They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;t

even their altars will be like piles of rocksu

on the furrows of a field.

FURTHER INDICTMENT OF JACOB’S HEIRS

12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.v

Israel worked to earn a wife;w

he tended flocks for a wife.x

13 The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,y

and Israel was tended by a prophet.

14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,z

so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on himaa

and repay him for his contempt.ab

13 When Ephraim spoke,ac there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel.ad

But he incurred guilt through Baalae and died.

2 Now they continue to sin

and make themselves a cast image,af

idols skillfully made from their silver,ag

all of them the work of craftsmen.ah

People say about them,

“Let the men who sacrificeD kiss the calves.”ai

3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,aj

like the early dew that vanishes,

like chaff blown from a threshing floor,ak

or like smoke from a window.al

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

4 I have been the Lord your Godam

ever sinceE the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,an

and no Savior exists besides me.ao

5 I knewF you in the wilderness,ap

in the land of drought.

6 When they had pasture,

they became satisfied;aq

they were satisfied,

and their hearts became proud.ar

Therefore they forgot me.as

7 So I will be like a lionat to them;

I will lurk like a leopardau on the path.

8 I will attack them

like a bear robbed of her cubs

and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.

I will devour them there like a lioness,av

like a wild beast that would rip them open.

9 I will destroy you, Israel;

you have no help but me.G,aw

10 Where now is your king,H,ax

that he may save you in all your cities,

and theI rulersJ,ay you demanded, saying,

“Give me a king and leaders”?

11 I give you a king in my angeraz

and take away a king in my wrath.a

12 Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;

his sin is stored up.b

13 Labor pains come on him.c

He is not a wise son;d

when the time comes,

he will not be born.A,e

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.

I will redeemB them from death.f

Death, where are your barbs?

Sheol, where is your sting?g

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.h

THE COMING JUDGMENT

15 Although he flourishes among his brothers,C,i

an east wind will come,j

a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.

His water source will fail,

and his spring will run dry.k

The windD will plunder the treasuryl

of every precious item.

16 Samariam will bear her guiltn

because she has rebelled against her God.o

They will fall by the sword;p

their children will be dashed to pieces,q

and their pregnant women ripped open.r

A PLEA TO REPENT

14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,s

for you have stumbled in your iniquity.t

2 Take words of repentance with youu

and return to the Lord.

Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity

and accept what is good,

so that we may repay you

with praiseE from ourF lips.v

3 Assyria will not save us,w

we will not ride on horses,x

and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’y

to the work of our hands.z

For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”aa

A PROMISE OF RESTORATION

4 I will heal their apostasy;ab

I will freely love them,ac

for my anger will have turned from him.ad

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;ae

he will blossom like the lilyaf

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.ag

6 His new branches will spread,

and his splendor will be like the olive tree,ah

his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.ai

7 The people will return and live beneath his shade.aj

They will grow grainak

and blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim, why should IG have anything more

to do with idols?al

It is I who answer and watch over him.

I am like a flourishing pine tree;am

your fruit comes from me.an

9 Let whoever is wiseao understand these things,

and whoever is insightful recognize them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,ap

and the righteous walk in them,aq

but the rebellious stumble in them.ar

JOEL

1 The word of the Lord that camea to Joel son of Pethuel:

A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS

2 Hear this,b you elders;

listen, all you inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your daysc

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it,d

and let your children tell their children,

and their children the next generation.

4 What the devouring locuste has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locustf has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locustg has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards,h and weep;

wail, all you wine drinkers,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been taken from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,i

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.j

7 It has devastated my grapevine

and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;

its branches have turned white.

8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,k

mourning for the husband of her youth.

9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut offl

from the house of the Lord;

the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.m

10 The fields are destroyed;n

the land grieves;

indeed, the grain is destroyed;

the new wine is dried up;o

and the fresh oil fails.p

11 Be ashamed, you farmers,q

wail, you vinedressers,A

over the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.r

12 The grapevine is dried up,s

and the fig tree is withered;

the pomegranate,t the date palm,u and the applev—

all the trees of the orchard—have withered.

Indeed, human joy has dried up.w

13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,x you priests;y

wail,z you ministers of the altar.

Come and spend the night in sackcloth,aa

you ministers of my God,

because grain and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Announce a sacred fast;ab

proclaim a solemn assembly!

Gather the eldersac

and all the residents of the land

at the house of the Lord your God,ad

and cry out to the Lord.ae

THE DAY OF THE LORD

15 Woe because of that day!af

For the day of the Lord is near

and will come as devastation from the Almighty.ag

16 Hasn’t the food been cut off

before our eyes,ah

joy and gladnessai

from the house of our God?

17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.B,aj

The storehouses are in ruin,

and the granaries are broken down,

because the grain has withered away.

18 How the animals groan!ak

The herds of cattle wander in confusion

since they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.

19 I call to you, Lord,al

for fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness,a

and flames have devoured

all the trees of the orchard.

20 Even the wild animals cry out toA you,b

for the river beds are dried up,c

and fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness.