Proverbs 29

¹ Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
will suddenly be destroyed−without remedy.

² When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice;
when the wicked rule, the people groan.

³ A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,
but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

⁴ By justice a king gives a country stability,
but those who are greedy for^[a] bribes tear it down.

⁵ Those who flatter their neighbors
are spreading nets for their feet.

⁶ Evildoers are snared by their own sin,
but the righteous shout for joy and are glad.

⁷ The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.

⁸ Mockers stir up a city,
but the wise turn away anger.

⁹ If a wise person goes to court with a fool,
the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace.

¹⁰ The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity
and seek to kill the upright.

¹¹ Fools give full vent to their rage,
but the wise bring calm in the end.

¹² If a ruler listens to lies,
all his officials become wicked.

¹³ The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
The LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.

¹⁴ If a king judges the poor with fairness,
his throne will be established forever.

¹⁵ A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom,
but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.

¹⁶ When the wicked thrive, so does sin,
but the righteous will see their downfall.

¹⁷ Discipline your children, and they will give you peace;
they will bring you the delights you desire.

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

¹⁹ Servants cannot be corrected by mere words;
though they understand, they will not respond.

²⁰ Do you see someone who speaks in haste?
There is more hope for a fool than for them.

²¹ A servant pampered from youth
will turn out to be insolent.

²² An angry person stirs up conflict,
and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.

²³ Pride brings a person low,
but the lowly in spirit gain honor.

²⁴ The accomplices of thieves are their own enemies;
they are put under oath and dare not testify.

²⁵ Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

²⁶ Many seek an audience with a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that one gets justice.

²⁷ The righteous detest the dishonest;
the wicked detest the upright.

Hosea 12

^{1 [a]1} Ephraim feeds on the wind;
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt.
² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacob^[b] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
³ In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
⁴ He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there−
⁵ the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name!
⁶ But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.

⁷ The merchant uses dishonest scales
and loves to defraud.
⁸ Ephraim boasts,
"I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin."

⁹ "I have been the LORD your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them."

¹¹ Is Gilead wicked?
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
¹² Jacob fled to the country of Aram^[c];
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.
¹³ The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
by a prophet he cared for him.
¹⁴ But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed
and will repay him for his contempt.

Hosea 13

The LORD’s Anger Against Israel

¹ When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
² Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
"They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss^[d] calf-idols!"
³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.

⁴ "But I have been the LORD your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
⁵ I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
⁷ So I will be like a lion to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion I will devour them−
a wild animal will tear them apart.

⁹ "You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
¹⁰ Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
’Give me a king and princes’?
¹¹ So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
¹² The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
¹³ Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.

¹⁴ "I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?

"I will have no compassion,
¹⁵ even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the LORD will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
¹⁶ The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open."^[e]

Hosea 14

Repentance to Bring Blessing

^{1 [f]}Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
² Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
"Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^[g]
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ’Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion."

⁴ "I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
⁶ his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
⁷ People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine−
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
⁸ Ephraim, what more have I^[h] to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me."

⁹ Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.