HOSEA 1

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  1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. Hosea’s Wife and Children2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
    4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
    6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
    8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
    10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

HOSEA 2

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Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished  2:1 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
2

“Plead with your mother, plead—

for she is not my wife,

and I am not her husband—

that she put away her whoring from her face,

and her adultery from between her breasts; 3

lest I strip her naked

and make her as in the day she was born,

and make her like a wilderness,

and make her like a parched land,

and kill her with thirst. 4

Upon her children also I will have no mercy,

because they are children of whoredom. 5

For their mother has played the whore;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

who give me my bread and my water,

my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6

Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,

and I will build a wall against her,

so that she cannot find her paths. 7

She shall pursue her lovers

but not overtake them,

and she shall seek them

but shall not find them.

Then she shall say,

‘I will go and return to my first husband,

for it was better for me then than now.’ 8

And she did not know

that it was I who gave her

the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and who lavished on her silver and gold,

which they used for Baal. 9

Therefore I will take back

my grain in its time,

and my wine in its season,

and I will take away my wool and my flax,

which were to cover her nakedness. 10

Now I will uncover her lewdness

in the sight of her lovers,

and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11

And I will put an end to all her mirth,

her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,

and all her appointed feasts. 12

And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,

of which she said,

‘These are my wages,

which my lovers have given me.’

I will make them a forest,

and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13

And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals

when she burned offerings to them

and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,

and went after her lovers

and forgot me, declares the Lord. The Lord’s Mercy on Israel14

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

and bring her into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her. 15

And there I will give her her vineyards

and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,

as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
    16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21

“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,

I will answer the heavens,

and they shall answer the earth, 22

and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer Jezreel, 23

and I will sow her for myself in the land.

And I will have mercy on No Mercy,

and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;

and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

HOSEA 3

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Hosea Redeems His Wife  3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

PROVERBS 1

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The Beginning of Knowledge  1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2

To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight, 3

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.
7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Enticement of Sinners8

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9

for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for your neck. 10

My son, if sinners entice you,

do not consent. 11

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12

like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13

we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14

throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”— 15

my son, do not walk in the way with them;

hold back your foot from their paths, 16

for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood. 17

For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird, 18

but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives. 19

Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors. The Call of Wisdom20

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice; 21

at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge? 23

If you turn at my reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you. 24

Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25

because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof, 26

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you, 27

when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you. 28

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29

Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30

would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof, 31

therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices. 32

For the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33

but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

PSALM 140

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Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil MenTo the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
140:1

Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from violent men, 2

who plan evil things in their heart

and stir up wars continually. 3

They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,

and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
4

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from violent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet. 5

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net;

beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
6

I say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! 7

O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle. 8

Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
9

As for the head of those who surround me,

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 10

Let burning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise! 11

Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and will execute justice for the needy. 13

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall dwell in your presence.