Day 346 of 730

¹Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.

²Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.

³Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we do not fear the Lord; and the king, what can he do for us?"

⁴They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

⁵The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it.

⁶It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷Samaria and her king float away, like a twig on the water.

⁸The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, "Cover us!" and the hills, "Fall on us!"

⁹"Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them in Gibeah.

¹⁰When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

¹¹Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods.

¹²Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.

¹³You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

¹⁴Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.

¹⁵So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.

¹"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

²They called to them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images.

³Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they did not know that I healed them.

⁴I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.

⁵"They won't return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian will be their king, because they refused to repent.

⁶The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans.

⁷My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won't exalt them.

⁸"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.

⁹I 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.

¹⁰They will walk after the Lord, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.

¹¹They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," says the Lord.

¹²Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.

¹God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;

³though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.

⁴There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

⁵God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.

⁶The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.

⁷The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

⁸Come, see the Lord's works, what desolations he has made in the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.

¹⁰"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.