Hosea 7

1 When I would heal Israel,

then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,

also the wickedness of Samaria;

for they commit falsehood,

and the thief enters in,

and the gang of robbers ravages outside.

2 They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness.

Now their own deeds have engulfed them.

They are before my face.

3 They make the king glad with their wickedness,

and the princes with their lies.

4 They are all adulterers.

They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring,

from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.

5 On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine.

He joined his hand with mockers.

6 For they have prepared their heart like an oven,

while they lie in wait.

Their baker sleeps all the night.

In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

7 They are all hot as an oven,

and devour their judges.

All their kings have fallen.

There is no one among them who calls to me.

8 Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations.

Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.

9 Strangers have devoured his strength,

and he doesn’t realize it.

Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him,

and he doesn’t realize it.

10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;

yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God,

nor sought him, for all this.

11 “Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding.

They call to Egypt.

They go to Assyria.

12 When they go, I will spread my net on them.

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

I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.

13 Woe to them!

For they have wandered from me.

Destruction to them!

For they have trespassed against me.

Though I would redeem them,

yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 They haven’t cried to me with their heart,

but they howl on their beds.

They assemble themselves for grain and new wine.

They turn away from me.

15 Though I have taught and strengthened their arms,

yet they plot evil against me.

16 They return, but not to the Most High.

They are like a faulty bow.

Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue.

This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/7-177815282b6b07af12f619092af8eb78.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 8

1 “Put the trumpet to your lips!

Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house,

because they have broken my covenant,

and rebelled against my law.

2 They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’

3 Israel has cast off that which is good.

The enemy will pursue him.

4 They have set up kings, but not by me.

They have made princes, and I didn’t approve.

Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols,

that they may be cut off.

5 Let Samaria throw out his calf idol!

My anger burns against them!

How long will it be until they are capable of purity?

6 For this is even from Israel!

The workman made it, and it is no God;

indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

7 For they sow the wind,

and they will reap the whirlwind.

He has no standing grain.

The stalk will yield no head.

If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

8 Israel is swallowed up.

Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.

9 For they have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey wandering alone.

Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.

10 But although they sold themselves among the nations,

I will now gather them;

and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.

11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,

they became for him altars for sinning.

12 I wrote for him the many things of my law;

but they were regarded as a strange thing.

13 As for the sacrifices of my offerings,

they sacrifice meat and eat it;

But Yahweh doesn’t accept them.

Now he will remember their iniquity,

and punish their sins.

They will return to Egypt.

14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;

and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

but I will send a fire on his cities,

and it will devour its fortresses.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/8-b4ed7240d614ededd18bfcc34c88b7ab.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 9

1 Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations;

for you were unfaithful to your God.

You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.

2 The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them,

and the new wine will fail her.

3 They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land;

but Ephraim will return to Egypt,

and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

4 They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh,

neither will they be pleasing to him.

Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;

all who eat of it will be polluted;

for their bread will be for their appetite.

It will not come into Yahweh’s house.

5 What will you do in the day of solemn assembly,

and in the day of the feast of Yahweh?

6 For, behold, they have gone away from destruction.

Egypt will gather them up.

Memphis will bury them.

Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.

Thorns will be in their tents.

7 The days of visitation have come.

The days of reckoning have come.

Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,

and the man who is inspired to be insane,

because of the abundance of your sins,

and because your hostility is great.

8 A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God.

A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths,

and hostility in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves,

as in the days of Gibeah.

He will remember their iniquity.

He will punish them for their sins.

10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.

I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season;

but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing,

and became abominable like that which they loved.

11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.

There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.

12 Though they bring up their children,

yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.

Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!

13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place;

but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.

14 Give them—Yahweh what will you give?

Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal;

for there I hated them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house!

I will love them no more.

All their princes are rebels.

16 Ephraim is struck.

Their root has dried up.

They will bear no fruit.

Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”

17 My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him;

and they will be wanderers among the nations.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/9-8ebfbabf5a17516bf5909fb3deb69470.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 10

1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces 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.

2 Their heart is divided.

Now they will be found guilty.

He will demolish their altars.

He will destroy their sacred stones.

3 Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear Yahweh;

and the king, what can he do for us?”

4 They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants.

Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

5 The 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.

6 It 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.

7 Samaria and her king float away,

like a twig on the water.

8 The 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.

10 When it is my desire, I will chastise them;

and the nations will be gathered against them,

when they are bound to their two transgressions.

11 Ephraim 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.

12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness,

reap according to kindness.

Break up your fallow ground;

for it is time to seek Yahweh,

until he comes and rains righteousness on you.

13 You 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.

14 Therefore 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.

15 So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness.

At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/10-0c17c7f4b9164fe132dbe0840b782970.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 11

1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,

and called my son out of Egypt.

2 They called to them, so they went from them.

They sacrificed to the Baals,

and burned incense to engraved images.

3 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.

I took them by his arms;

but they didn’t know that I healed them.

4 I 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.

6 The sword will fall on their cities,

and will destroy the bars of their gates,

and will put an end to their plans.

7 My 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.

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 among you;

and I will not come in wrath.

10 They will walk after Yahweh,

who 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 out of Egypt,

and like a dove out of the land of Assyria;

and I will settle them in their houses,” says Yahweh.

12 Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood,

and the house of Israel with deceit.

Judah still strays from God,

and is unfaithful to the Holy One.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/11-7851d26bffe7523c2c82900691fb77aa.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 12

1 Ephraim feeds on wind,

and chases the east wind.

He continually multiplies lies and desolation.

They make a covenant with Assyria,

and oil is carried into Egypt.

2 Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah,

and will punish Jacob according to his ways;

according to his deeds he will repay him.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel;

and in his manhood he contended with God.

4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed;

he wept, and made supplication to him.

He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,

5 even Yahweh, the God of Armies;

Yahweh is his name of renown!

6 Therefore turn to your God.

Keep kindness and justice,

and wait continually for your God.

7 A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand.

He loves to defraud.

8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich,

I have found myself wealth.

In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.”

9 “But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt.

I will yet again make you dwell in tents,

as in the days of the solemn feast.

10 I have also spoken to the prophets,

and I have multiplied visions;

and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

11 If Gilead is wicked,

surely they are worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.

Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob fled into the country of Aram,

and Israel served to get a wife,

and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.

13 By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt,

and by a prophet he was preserved.

14 Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger.

Therefore his blood will be left on him,

and his Lordwill repay his contempt.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/12-960f17df387d8f06d5c51e2a2f0ef458.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 13

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.

He exalted himself in Israel,

but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.

2 Now they sin more and more,

and have made themselves molten images of their silver,

even idols according to their own understanding,

all of them the work of the craftsmen.

They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.’

3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,

and like the dew that passes away early,

like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor,

and like the smoke out of the chimney.

4 “Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt;

and you shall acknowledge no god but me,

and besides me there is no savior.

5 I knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of great drought.

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled;

they were filled, and their heart was exalted.

Therefore they have forgotten me.

7 Therefore I am like a lion to them.

Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path.

8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs,

and will tear the covering of their heart.

There I will devour them like a lioness.

The wild animal will tear them.

9 You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me,

against your help.

10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities?

And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’

11 I have given you a king in my anger,

and have taken him away in my wrath.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up.

His sin is stored up.

13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him.

He is an unwise son;

for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.

I will redeem them from death!

Death, where are your plagues?

Sheol, where is your destruction?

“Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.

15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come,

the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;

and his spring will become dry,

and his fountain will be dried up.

He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

16 Samaria will bear her guilt;

for she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword.

Their infants will be dashed in pieces,

and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/13-e3f5205f0a752e827481c2f26758e5c3.mp3?version_id=206—

Hosea 14

1 Israel, return to Yahweh your God;

for you have fallen because of your sin.

2 Take words with you, and return to Yahweh.

Tell him, “Forgive all our sins,

and accept that which is good:

so we offer our lips like bulls.

3 Assyria can’t save us.

We won’t ride on horses;

neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’

for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”

4 “I will heal their waywardness.

I will love them freely;

for my anger is turned away from him.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel.

He will blossom like the lily,

and send down his roots like Lebanon.

6 His branches will spread,

and his beauty will be like the olive tree,

and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7 Men will dwell in his shade.

They will revive like the grain,

and blossom like the vine.

Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols?

I answer, and will take care of him.

I am like a green cypress tree;

from me your fruit is found.”

9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things?

Who is prudent, that he may know them?

For the ways of Yahweh are right,

and the righteous walk in them;

But the rebellious stumble in them.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/HOS/14-c57aa7c05b3828e7db55331b42e1c465.mp3?version_id=206—

Daniel 1

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.

2 The Lordgave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God;and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

3 The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspringand of the nobles;

4 youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.

5 The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at its end they should stand before the king.

6 Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

7 The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

9 Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.

10 The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? so would you endanger my head with the king.

11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

12 Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink.

13 Then let our faces be looked on before you, and the face of the youths who eat of the king’s dainties; and as you see, deal with your servants.

14 So he listened to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

15 At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king’s dainties.

16 So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.

17 Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

18 At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 The king talked with them; and among them all was found no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.

20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.

21 Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/DAN/1-92db5e640347b422e73894acc7007d71.mp3?version_id=206—

Daniel 2

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

3 The king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.

4 Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

5 The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you don’t make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.

7 They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

8 The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me.

9 But if you don’t make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.

10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.

11 It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

14 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;

15 he answered Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

16 Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.

17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20 Daniel answered,

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever;

for wisdom and might are his.

21 He changes the times and the seasons;

he removes kings, and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise,

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

22 he reveals the deep and secret things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

23 I thank you, and praise you,

you God of my fathers,

who have given me wisdom and might,

and have now made known to me what we desired of you;

for you have made known to us the king’s matter.

24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.

25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.

26 The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?

27 Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king;

28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:

29 as for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall happen.

30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

31 You, O king, saw, and behold,a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its aspect was awesome.

32 As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.

34 You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell its interpretation before the king.

37 You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;

38 and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.

39 After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.

41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

42 As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

43 Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.

44 In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45 Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.

46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him.

47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.

48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/DAN/2-dd8a37f60bfb96ab7f9d3c25c1c76ef3.mp3?version_id=206—