The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

For from Israel is even this: the craftsman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in shivers.

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind; it hath no stalk, the bud that shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.

Israel is swallowed up; now are they become among the nations as a vessel wherein is no value.

For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself; Ephraim hath hired lovers.

Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them up; and they begin to be minished by reason of the burden of king and princes.

For Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, yea, altars have been unto him to sin.

Though I write for him never so many things of My Law, they are accounted as a stranger's.

As for the sacrifices that are made by fire unto Me, let them sacrifice flesh and eat it, for the LORD accepteth them not. Now will He remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.

For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces, and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the castles thereof.

Rejoice not, O Israel, unto exultation, like the peoples, for thou hast gone astray from thy God, thou hast loved a harlot's hire upon every corn-floor.

The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her.

They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

They shall not pour out wine-offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him; their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners, all that eat thereof shall be polluted; for their bread shall be for their appetite, it shall not come into the house of the LORD.

What will ye do in the day of the appointed season, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

For, lo, they are gone away from destruction, yet Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them; their precious treasures of silver, nettles shall possess them, thorns shall be in their tents.

The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad! For the multitude of thine iniquity, the enmity is great.

Ephraim is a watchman with my God; as for the prophet, a fowler's snare is in all his ways, and enmity in the house of his God.

They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at her first season; but so soon as they came to Baal-peor, they separated themselves unto the shameful thing, and became detestable like that which they loved.

As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird; there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.

Yea, though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there be not a man left; yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!

Ephraim, like as I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the slayer.

Give them, O LORD, whatsoever Thou wilt give; give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them; because of the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of My house; I will love them no more, all their princes are rebellious.

Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved fruit of their womb.

My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Israel was a luxuriant vine, which put forth fruit freely: as his fruit increased, he increased his altars; the more goodly his land was, the more goodly were his pillars.

Their heart is divided; now shall they bear their guilt; He will break down their altars, He will spoil their pillars.

Surely now shall they say: 'We have no king; for we feared not the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?'

They speak words, they swear falsely, they make covenants; thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in dread for the calves of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.

It also shall be carried unto Assyria, for a present to King Contentious; Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water.

The high places also of Aven shall be destroyed, even the sin of Israel. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains: 'Cover us', and to the hills: 'Fall on us.'

From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel; there they stood; no battle was to overtake them in Gibeah, nor the children of arrogancy.

When it is My desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are yoked to their two rings.

And Ephraim is a heifer well broken, that loveth to thresh, and I have passed over upon her fair neck; I will make Ephraim to ride, Judah shall plow, Jacob shall break his clods.

Sow to yourselves according to righteousness, reap according to mercy, break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and cause righteousness to rain upon you.

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, ye have eaten the fruit of lies; for thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy hosts, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle; the mother was dashed in pieces with her children.

So hath Beth-el done unto you because of your great wickedness; at daybreak is the king of Israel utterly cut off.

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.

The more they called them, the more they went from them; they sacrificed unto the Baalim, and offered to graven images.

And I, I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I fed them gently.

He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

And the sword shall fall upon his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

And My people are in suspense about returning to Me; and though they call them upwards, none at all will lift himself up.

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I surrender thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned within Me, My compassions are kindled together.

I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in fury.

They shall walk after the LORD, who shall roar like a lion; for He shall roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west.

They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith the LORD.

Ephraim compasseth Me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is yet wayward towards God, and towards the Holy One who is faithful.

Ephraim striveth after wind, and followeth after the east wind; all the day he multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.

The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings will He recompense him.

In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and by his strength he strove with a godlike being;

So he strove with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him; at Beth-el he would find him, and there he would speak with us;

But the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is His name.

Therefore turn thou to thy God; keep mercy and justice, and wait for thy God continually.

As for the trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loveth to oppress.

And Ephraim said: 'Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth; in all my labours they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.'

But I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed season.

I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.

If Gilead be given to iniquity becoming altogether vanity, in Gilgal they sacrifice unto bullocks; yea, their altars shall be as heaps in the furrows of the field.

And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he kept.

Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly; therefore shall his blood be cast upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he became guilty through Baal, he died.

And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, according to their own understanding, even idols, all of them the work of the craftsmen; of them they say: 'They that sacrifice men kiss calves.'

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the wind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the window.

Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou knowest no God but Me, and beside Me there is no saviour.

I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

When they were fed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten Me.

Therefore am I become unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way;

I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the enclosure of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.

It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against Me, against thy help.

Ho, now, thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities! and thy judges, of whom thou saidst: 'Give me a king and princes!'

I give thee a king in Mine anger, and take him away in My wrath.

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store.

The throes of a travailing woman shall come upon him; he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.

Shall I ransom them from the power of the nether-world? Shall I redeem them from death? Ho, thy plagues, O death! Ho, thy destruction, O nether-world! Repentance be hid from Mine eyes!

For though he be fruitful among the reed-plants, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up; he shall spoil the treasure of all precious vessels.

Samaria shall bear her guilt, for she hath rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Return, O Israel, unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity.

Take with you words, and return unto the LORD; say unto Him: 'Forgive all iniquity, and accept that which is good; so will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips.

Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we call any more the work of our hands our gods; for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.'

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him.

I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his fragrance as Lebanon.

They that dwell under his shadow shall again make corn to grow, and shall blossom as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say: 'What have I to do any more with idols?' As for Me, I respond and look on him; I am like a leafy cypress-tree; from Me is thy fruit found.

Whoso is wise, let him understand these things, whoso is prudent, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the just do walk in them; but transgressors do stumble therein.

THE WORD of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.

For a people is come up upon my land, mighty, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

He hath laid my vine waste, and blasted my fig-tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it down, the branches thereof are made white.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.