Old/New Testament
Chapter 5
I Shall Punish Them All
1 Hear this, O priests!
Listen closely, O house of Israel!
Give heed, O house of the king,
for you will be called to judgment!
For you have been a snare at Mizpah,[a]
and a net spread out upon Tabor,
2 and a deep pit at Shittim;
I shall punish all of them.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me.
Despite this, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,
and Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not allow them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of immorality has possessed them,
and they no longer know the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
Ephraim stumbles in their guilt,
and Judah stumbles with them.
6 With their sheep and their cattle,
they shall go forth to seek the Lord.
However, they will not find him,
for he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have betrayed the Lord,
for they have borne illegitimate children.[b]
Now the new moon shall devour them
along with their fields.
War between Israel and Judah[c]
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,[d]
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven:
“Look behind you, O Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim shall become a wasteland
on the day of punishment.
Against the tribes of Israel
I have decreed certain doom.
10 The rulers of Judah act like men
who move their neighbor’s boundary line.
On them I will pour out
my wrath like a flood.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
being intent on pursuing idols.
12 Therefore, I am like an infectious sore for Ephraim,
like maggots for the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim realized that he was ill
and Judah noted that he was covered with sores,
Ephraim went to Assyria,
and Judah sent envoys to the great king.
However, he has no power to cure you
or to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will maul them and depart;
I will carry them off,
and no one will be able to rescue them.
15 I shall go back to my dwelling place
until they acknowledge their guilt
and seek my presence.[e]
In their affliction,
they will beseech my favor.
Chapter 6
Steadfast Love Rather than Sacrifice Is What Pleases Me
1 [f]“Come, let us return to the Lord;
he has wounded us, but he will heal us;
he has struck us down, but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day[g] he will raise us up
to live in his presence.
3 Let us know the Lord;
let us strive to know him.
His coming is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like a shower,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like a morning mist,
like the dew that quickly evaporates.
5 That is the reason why I cut them to pieces
by means of the prophets.
I have slaughtered them by the word of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth like the dawn.
6 For steadfast love rather than sacrifice is what pleases me,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Their Wicked Deeds Are Constantly before My Eyes
7 But in their land[h] they broke the covenant;
it was there that they were unfaithful to me.
8 Gilead[i] is a city of evildoers,
stained with bloody footprints.
9 Like robbers waiting in ambush,
priests are banded together.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem,
perpetrating monstrous crimes.
10 I have witnessed a horrible thing
in the house of Israel.
There Ephraim engages in prostitution
and Israel is defiled.
11 And for you also, O Judah,
a harvest of reprisal has been designated.[j]
Chapter 7
1 Whenever I decide to restore the fortunes of my people
and prepare to heal Israel,
the guilt of Ephraim confronts me
as well as the wicked deeds of Samaria.
They practice deceit;
thieves break into houses
while bandits plunder in the streets.[k]
2 But they somehow fail to remind themselves
that I remember all their wickedness.
I will not forget their wicked deeds;
they are constantly before my eyes.
The Conspirators
3 They delight the king with their wickedness
and the princes with their treachery.
4 All of them are adulterers;
they are like an oven all ablaze
whose fire the baker does not need to stoke
from the kneading of the dough until it has risen.
5 On the festal day of their king,
the princes become inflamed with wine
while the king extends his hand
to those who mock him.[l]
6 For they are heated like ovens
while their heart burns within them.
All through the night their passion slumbers;
in the morning it blazes forth like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are as hot as ovens,
and they consume their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
not one of them calls out to me.
They Call upon Egypt, They Turn to Assyria
8 Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a half-baked cake.[m]
9 Foreigners have sapped his strength,
but he is unaware of it.
His hair is beginning to turn gray,
but he does not realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,
but despite all this,
they do not return to the Lord, their God,
nor do they seek him.
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without any sense.
They call upon Egypt;
they turn to Assyria.
12 Wherever they turn,
I will cast my net over them.
I will bring them down
like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them
because of their evil deeds.
13 Woe to them,
for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against me!
I longed to redeem them,
but they continued to tell lies about me.
14 They have not cried out to me from their hearts
while they wailed upon their beds.
When they gash themselves to obtain grain and new wine,[n]
they are still rebelling against me.
15 Even though I supported and strengthened them,
they devise evil plots against me.
16 Everything they devise is of no avail;
they are like a defective bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
As a result, they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 8
When Israel Sows the Wind, It Will Reap the Whirlwind
1 Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is circling over the sanctuary of the Lord.
The people have broken my covenant
and been unfaithful to my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“We acknowledge you to be our God.”
3 However, Israel has rejected what is good;
the enemy will pursue them.
4 [o]They anointed kings, but not by my authority;
they appointed princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols for themselves,
idols for their own destruction.
5 I reject your calf-idol, O Samaria!
My anger burns against them.
How long will it be
before they regain their innocence?
6 The calf was made in Israel;
it is no god at all,
for it was fashioned by a craftsman.
The calf of Samaria
will be broken to pieces.
7 When Israel sows the wind,
it will reap the whirlwind.
When the standing grain has no heads,
it will yield no flour.
And if it were to yield flour,
foreigners would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations
like something of no value.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild ass wandering on its own;
Ephraim has bargained for lovers.
10 Because they have bargained with the nations,
I will now gather them up.
They will soon begin to suffer
under the weight of kings and princes.
11 Although Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
those altars became occasions for sin.
12 I provided Ephraim with many written laws,
but they regarded such laws as irrelevant.
13 Although they offer sacrifices to me
and eat the meat,
the Lord does not accept them.
On the contrary, he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they will be forced to return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces;
Judah also has fortified many cities.
However, I will send fire upon his cities
that will devour their citadels.
Letters to the Churches[a]
Chapter 2
To Ephesus.[b]1 “To the angel of the Church in Ephesus,[c] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven lampstands:
2 “ ‘ “I know your deeds, your hard work, and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, and how you have put to the test those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be impostors. 3 I am also aware of your perseverance and how you have toiled for my name without becoming weary.
4 “ ‘ “However, I have this complaint against you: you have lost the love you had at first. 5 Remember from where you have fallen. Repent and do as you did originally. Otherwise, unless you repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 Nonetheless, this may be said in your favor: you detest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says[d] to the Churches. To anyone who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.” ’
To Smyrna.[e] 8 “To the angel of the Church in Smyrna,[f] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again:
9 “ ‘ “I know of your hardships and your poverty, but in reality you are rich. I am aware of the slander of those who claim to be Jews but are actually members of the synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be frightened when thinking about the sufferings that you will have to endure. The devil will throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will endure affliction for ten days. Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches. Anyone who is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.” ’
12 To Pergamum.[g]“To the angel of the Church in Pergamum,[h] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the one who has the sharp double-edged sword:
13 “ ‘ “I know that you live in the place where Satan is enthroned. Yet you have remained firm in support of my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even at the time when Antipas,[i] my faithful witness, was put to death among you, where Satan lives.
14 “ ‘ “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. Some of you are holding to the teaching of Balaam,[j] who instructed Balak to place temptations in the path of the Israelites, encouraging them to eat food sacrificed to idols and to engage in fornication. 15 Likewise, there are some of you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore, repent. If you do not do so, I will come to you quickly and attack them with the sword of my mouth.
17 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches. To anyone who is victorious I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, upon which will be inscribed a new name, known only to the person who receives it.” ’
18 To Thyatira.[k]“To the angel of the Church in Thyatira,[l] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet like burnished bronze:
19 “ ‘ “I know your deeds—your love, your faithfulness, your service, and your endurance—and that you are doing greater works than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and who by her teaching is luring my servants into acts of fornication and encouraging them to eat food that has been sacrificed to idols.
21 “ ‘ “I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. 22 So I will cast her onto a bed of pain, and all those who commit adultery with her will suffer intensely unless they renounce her practices. 23 I will also strike her children dead. Thereby all the Churches will be shown that I am the one who searches minds and hearts and I will give to each of you what your works deserve.
24 “ ‘ “And I say to the rest of you in Thyatira who have not accepted this teaching and who have no knowledge of what are designated as the deep secrets of Satan,[m] I shall not impose any further burden on you, 25 but hold firmly to what you have until I come.
26 “ ‘ “To anyone who is victorious
and perseveres in doing my works until the end,
I will give authority over the nations,
27 the same authority that I received from my Father,
to rule them with an iron rod
and shatter them like clay pots.
28 And to such a person I will also give the morning star.
29 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.” ’
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.