The Punishment for Israel's Apostasy

51 Hear this , O priests ! Give heed , O house of Israel ! Listen , O house of the king ! For the judgment applies to you, For you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out on Tabor . 2 The revolters have gone deep in depravity , But I will chastise all of them. 3 I know Ephraim , and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now , O Ephraim , you have played the harlot , Israel has defiled itself. 4 Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God . For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the Lord . 5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity ; Judah also has stumbled with them. 6 They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the Lord , but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord , For they have borne illegitimate children . Now the new moon will devour them with their land .

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah , The trumpet in Ramah . Sound an alarm at Beth-aven : " Behind you, Benjamin !" 9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke ; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure . 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary ; On them I will pour out My wrath like water . 11 Ephraim is oppressed , crushed in judgment , Because he was determined to follow e man's command . 12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah . 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness , And Judah his wound , Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb . But he is unable e to heal you, Or to cure you of your wound . 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah . I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver .

The Insincerity of Israel's Repentance

15 I will go away and return to My place Until e they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face ; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.

61 " Come , let us return to the Lord . For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2 "He will revive us after two days ; He will raise us up on the third day , That we may live before Him. 3 "So let us know , let us press on to know the Lord . His going forth is as certain as the dawn ; And He will come to us like the rain , Like the spring rain watering the earth ."

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim ? What shall I do with you, O Judah ? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early . 5 Therefore e I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets ; I have slain them by the words of My mouth ; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth . 6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice , And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings . 7 But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant ; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. 8 Gilead is a city of wrongdoers , Tracked with bloody footprints. 9 And as raiders wait for a man , So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem ; Surely they have committed crime . 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing ; Ephraim's harlotry is there , Israel has defiled itself. 11 Also , O Judah , there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people .

Israel's Iniquity and Rebellion

71 When I would heal Israel , The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered , And the evil deeds of Samaria , For they deal falsely ; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside , 2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness . Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face . 3 With their wickedness they make the king glad , And the princes with their lies . 4 They are all adulterers , Like an oven heated by the baker Who ceases to stir up the fire From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened . 5 On the day of our king , the princes became sick with the heat of wine ; He stretched out his hand with scoffers , 6 For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting ; Their anger smolders all night , In the morning it burns like a flaming fire . 7 All of them are hot like an oven , And they consume their rulers ; All their kings have fallen . None of them calls on Me.

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations ; Ephraim has become a cake not turned . 9 Strangers devour his strength , Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it. 10 Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the Lord their God , Nor have they sought Him, for all this . 11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove , without sense ; They call to Egypt , they go to Assyria . 12 When they go , I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky . I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly . 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. 14 And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds ; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn away from Me. 15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms , Yet they devise evil against Me. 16 They turn , but not upward , They are like a deceitful bow ; Their princes will fall by the sword Because of the insolence of their tongue . This will be their derision in the land of Egypt .

The Rebuke of Israel's Idolatry

81 Put the trumpet to your lips ! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord , Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law . 2 They cry out to Me, "My God , we of Israel know You!" 3 Israel has rejected the good ; The enemy will pursue him. 4 They have set up kings , but not by Me; They have appointed princes , but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off . 5 He has rejected your calf , O Samaria , saying, "My anger burns against them!" How long will they be incapable e of innocence ? 6 For from Israel is even this ! A craftsman made it, so it is not God ; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces . 7 For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind . The standing grain has no heads ; It yields no grain . Should it yield , strangers would swallow it up.

8 Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a vessel in which no one delights . 9 For they have gone up to Assyria , Like a wild donkey all alone ; Ephraim has hired lovers . 10 Even though they hire allies among the nations , Now I will gather them up; And they will begin to diminish Because of the burden of the king of princes . 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin , They have become altars of sinning for him. 12 Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law , They are regarded as a strange thing . 13 As for My sacrificial gifts , They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the Lord has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their iniquity , And punish them for their sins ; They will return to Egypt . 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces ; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities , But I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings .

The Message to Ephesus

21 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write : The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand , the One who walks among e the seven golden lampstands , says this : 2 ' I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance , and that you cannot e tolerate evil men , and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles , and they are not, and you found them to be false ; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake , and have not grown weary . 4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love . 5 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen , and repent and do the deeds you did at first ; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place -unless e you repent . 6 'Yet this you do have , that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans , which I also hate . 7 ' He who has an ear , let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . To him who overcomes , I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God .'

The Message to Smyrna

8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write : The first and the last , who was dead , and has come to life , says this : 9 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich ), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan . 10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer . Behold , the devil is about to cast some of you into prison , so that you will be tested , and you will have tribulation for ten days . Be faithful until death , and I will give you the crown of life . 11 ' He who has an ear , let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death .'

The Message to Pergamos

12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write : The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this : 13 'I know where you dwell , where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name , and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas , My witness , My faithful one , who was killed among you, where Satan dwells . 14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam , who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel , to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality . 15 'So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans . 16 'Therefore repent ; or else I am coming to you quickly , and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth . 17 ' He who has an ear , let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . To him who overcomes , to him I will give some of the hidden manna , and I will give him a white stone , and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'

The Message to Thyatira

18 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write : The Son of God , who has eyes like a flame of fire , and His feet are like burnished bronze , says this : 19 ' I know your deeds , and your love and faith and service and perseverance , and that your deeds of late are greater than at first . 20 'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel , who calls herself a prophetess , and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols . 21 ' I gave her time to repent , and she does not want to repent of her immorality . 22 'Behold , I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation , unless e they repent of her deeds . 23 'And I will kill her children with pestilence , and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts ; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds . 24 'But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira , who do not hold this teaching , who have not known the deep things of Satan , as they call them-I place no other burden on you. 25 'Nevertheless what you have , hold fast until I come . 26 ' He who overcomes , and he who keeps My deeds until the end , TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS ; 27 AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON , AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES , as I also have received authority from My Father ; 28 and I will give him the morning star . 29 ' He who has an ear , let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches .'