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Hosea 9

9:1 Judgment of Israel's Sin

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,For you have played the harlot against your God.You have made love for hire on every threshing floor. 2 The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them,And the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the LORD's land,But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,And shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD,Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him.It shall be like bread of mourners to them;All who eat it shall be defiled.For their bread shall be for their own life;It shall not come into the house of the LORD.
5 What will you do in the appointed day,And in the day of the feast of the LORD? 6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.Egypt shall gather them up;Memphis shall bury them.Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;Thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;The days of recompense have come.Israel knows!The prophet is a fool,The spiritual man is insane,Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. 8 The watchman of Ephraim is with my God;But the prophet is a fowler's snare in all his ways — Enmity in the house of his God. 9 They are deeply corrupted,As in the days of Gibeah.He will remember their iniquity;He will punish their sins.
10 "I found IsraelLike grapes in the wilderness;I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.But they went to Baal Peor,And separated themselves to that shame;They became an abomination like the thing they loved. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird — No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception! 12 Though they bring up their children,Yet I will bereave them to the last man.Yes, woe to them when I depart from them! 13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer."
14 Give them, O LORD — 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 evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house;I will love them no more.All their princes are rebellious. 16 Ephraim is stricken,Their root is dried up;They shall bear no fruit.Yes, were they to bear children,I would kill the darlings of their womb."
17 My God will cast them away,Because they did not obey Him;And they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Hosea 10

10:1 Israel's Sin and Captivity

Israel empties his vine;He brings forth fruit for himself.According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars;According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided;Now they are held guilty.He will break down their altars;He will ruin their sacred pillars.
3 For now they say,"We have no king,Because we did not fear the LORD.And as for a king, what would he do for us?" 4 They have spoken words,Swearing falsely in making a covenant.Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear Because of the calf of Beth Aven.For its people mourn for it,And its priests shriek for it — Because its glory has departed from it. 6 The idol also shall be carried to AssyriaAs a present for King Jareb.Ephraim shall receive shame,And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off Like a twig on the water. 8 Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,Shall be destroyed.The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;They shall say to the mountains, "Cover us!"And to the hills, "Fall on us!"
9 "O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah;There they stood.The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity Did not overtake them. 10 When it is My desire, I will chasten them.Peoples shall be gathered against them When I bind them for their two transgressions. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer That loves to thresh grain;But I harnessed her fair neck,I will make Ephraim pull a plow.Judah shall plow;Jacob shall break his clods."
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;Reap in mercy;Break up your fallow ground,For it is time to seek the LORD,Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
13 You have plowed wickedness;You have reaped iniquity.You have eaten the fruit of lies,Because you trusted in your own way,In the multitude of your mighty men. 14 Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,And all your fortresses shall be plundered As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle — A mother dashed in pieces upon her children. 15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,Because of your great wickedness.At dawn the king of IsraelShall be cut off utterly.

Psalms 109

109:1 Plea for Judgment of False Accusers

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Do not keep silent,O God of my praise! 2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me;They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,And fought against me without a cause. 4 In return for my love they are my accusers,But I give myself to prayer. 5 Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,And hatred for my love.
6 Set a wicked man over him,And let an accuser stand at his right hand. 7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,And let his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be few,And let another take his office. 9 Let his children be fatherless,And his wife a widow. 10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. 11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,And let strangers plunder his labor. 12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him,Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. 13 Let his posterity be cut off,And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15 Let them be continually before the LORD,That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; 16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,But persecuted the poor and needy man,That he might even slay the broken in heart. 17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,So let it enter his body like water,And like oil into his bones. 19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,And for a belt with which he girds himself continually. 20 Let this be the LORD's reward to my accusers,And to those who speak evil against my person.
21 But You, O GOD the Lord,Deal with me for Your name's sake;Because Your mercy is good, deliver me. 22 For I am poor and needy,And my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;I am shaken off like a locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting,And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. 25 I also have become a reproach to them;When they look at me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God!Oh, save me according to Your mercy, 27 That they may know that this is Your hand — That You, LORD, have done it! 28 Let them curse, but You bless;When they arise, let them be ashamed,But let Your servant rejoice. 29 Let my accusers be clothed with shame,And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth;Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. 31 For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,To save him from those who condemn him.

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