Day 893 of 939

HOS 13:1-14:9

HOS 13:1-14:9 · 1JN 3:13-24

Not written yet

The reading for this day is below. The commentary has not been written and reviewed yet — it is added a book at a time, and every day is read by a person before it appears here.

1When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died. 2Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!” 3Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window. 4Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me. 5I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me. 7So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. 8Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart. 9You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me— against your helper. 10Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? 11So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. 12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up. 13Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb. 14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes. 15Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come— a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article. 16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. 1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. 2Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. 3Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.” 4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them. 5I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. 6His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. 7They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me. 9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
13So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer. 16By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? 18Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. 19And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: 20Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 23And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. 24Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.