10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, [ a ] assassinated him and succeeded him as king. 11 The other events of Zechariah's reign are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 12 So the word of the LORD spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: "Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." [ b ]

Footnotes:

1. 2 Kings 15:10 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts in Ibleam
2. 2 Kings 15:12 2 Kings 10:30

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. [ a ]

3 Assyria cannot save us;
       we will not mount war-horses.
       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 Men will dwell again in his shade.
       He will flourish like the grain.
       He will blossom like a vine,
       and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what more have I [ b ] to do with idols?
       I will answer him and care for him.
       I am like a green pine tree;
       your fruitfulness comes from me."

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

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
2. Hosea 14:8 Or What more has Ephraim

1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him,
       and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 But the more I [ a ] called Israel,
       the further they went from me. [ b ]
       They sacrificed to the Baals
       and they burned incense to images.

3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
       taking them by the arms;
       but they did not realize
       it was I who healed them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
       with ties of love;
       I lifted the yoke from their neck
       and bent down to feed them.

5 "Will they not return to Egypt
       and will not Assyria rule over them
       because they refuse to repent?

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
2. Hosea 14:8 Or What more has Ephraim

6 Swords will flash in their cities,
       will destroy the bars of their gates
       and put an end to their plans.

7 My people are determined to turn from me.
       Even if they call to the Most High,
       he will by no means exalt them.

8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim?
       How can I hand you over, Israel?
       How can I treat you like Admah?
       How can I make you like Zeboiim?
       My heart is changed within me;
       all my compassion is aroused.

9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
       nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
       For I am God, and not man—
       the Holy One among you.
       I will not come in wrath. [ a ]

10 They will follow the LORD;
       he will roar like a lion.
       When he roars,
       his children will come trembling from the west.

11 They will come trembling
       like birds from Egypt,
       like doves from Assyria.
       I will settle them in their homes,"
       declares the LORD.

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 11:9 Or come against any city

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
       because the LORD has a charge to bring
       against you who live in the land:
       "There is no faithfulness, no love,
       no acknowledgment of God in the land.

2 There is only cursing, [ a ] lying and murder,
       stealing and adultery;
       they break all bounds,
       and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Because of this the land mourns, [ b ]
       and all who live in it waste away;
       the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
       and the fish of the sea are dying.

4 "But let no man bring a charge,
       let no man accuse another,
       for your people are like those
       who bring charges against a priest.

5 You stumble day and night,
       and the prophets stumble with you.
       So I will destroy your mother-

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse upon
2. Hosea 4:3 Or dries up

1 whenever I would heal Israel,
       the sins of Ephraim are exposed
       and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
       They practice deceit,
       thieves break into houses,
       bandits rob in the streets;

2 but they do not realize
       that I remember all their evil deeds.
       Their sins engulf them;
       they are always before me.

3 "They delight the king with their wickedness,
       the princes with their lies.

4 They are all adulterers,
       burning like an oven
       whose fire the baker need not stir
       from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

5 On the day of the festival of our king
       the princes become inflamed with wine,
       and he joins hands with the mockers.

6 Their hearts are like an oven;
       they approach him with intrigue.
       Their passion smolders all night;
       in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

7 All of them are hot as an oven;
       they devour their rulers.
       All their kings fall,
       and none of them calls on me.

5 the LORD God Almighty,
       the LORD is his name of renown!

6 But you must return to your God;
       maintain love and justice,
       and wait for your God always.

7 The merchant uses dishonest scales;
       he 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 am the LORD your God,
       who brought you out of [ a ] Egypt;
       I will make you live in tents again,
       as in the days of your appointed feasts.

10 I spoke to the prophets,
       gave them many visions
       and told parables through them."

2 O you who hear prayer,
       to you all men will come.

3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
       you forgave [ b ] our transgressions.

4 Blessed are those you choose
       and bring near to live in your courts!
       We are filled with the good things of your house,
       of your holy temple.

5 You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
       O God our Savior,
       the hope of all the ends of the earth
       and of the farthest seas,

6 who formed the mountains by your power,
       having armed yourself with strength,

7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
       the roaring of their waves,
       and the turmoil of the nations.

8 Those living far away fear your wonders;
       where morning dawns and evening fades
       you call forth songs of joy.

36 As for the other events of Jotham's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
       And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
       and your healing will quickly appear;
       then your righteousness [ a ] will go before you,
       and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
       you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
       "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
       with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
       he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and will raise up the age-old foundations;
       you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
       Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
       and proclaim to her
       that her hard service has been completed,
       that her sin has been paid for,
       that she has received from the LORD's hand
       double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
       "In the desert prepare
       the way for the LORD [ a ] ;
       make straight in the wilderness
       a highway for our God. [ b ]

4 Every valley shall be raised up,
       every mountain and hill made low;
       the rough ground shall become level,
       the rugged places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
       and all mankind together will see it.
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

10 Hear the word of the LORD,
       you rulers of Sodom;
       listen to the law of our God,
       you people of Gomorrah!

11 "The multitude of your sacrifices—
       what are they to me?" says the LORD.
       "I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
       of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
       I have no pleasure
       in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me,
       who has asked this of you,
       this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
       Your incense is detestable to me.
       New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
       I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
       my soul hates.
       They have become a burden to me;
       I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
       I will hide my eyes from you;
       even if you offer many prayers,
       I will not listen.
       Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
       Take your evil deeds
       out of my sight!
       Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!
       Seek justice,
       encourage the oppressed. [ a ]
       Defend the cause of the fatherless,
       plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
       says the LORD.
       "Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,
       you will eat the best from the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,
       you will be devoured by the sword."
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 1:17 Or / rebuke the oppressor

16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

22 " 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
       a feast of rich food for all peoples,
       a banquet of aged wine—
       the best of meats and the finest of wines.

7 On this mountain he will destroy
       the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
       the sheet that covers all nations;

8 he will swallow up death forever.
       The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
       from all faces;
       he will remove the disgrace of his people
       from all the earth.
       The LORD has spoken.

9 In that day they will say,
       "Surely this is our God;
       we trusted in him, and he saved us.
       This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
       let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

10 The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain;
       but Moab will be trampled under him
       as straw is trampled down in the manure.

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
       and the day of vengeance of our God,
       to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
       to bestow on them a crown of beauty
       instead of ashes,
       the oil of gladness
       instead of mourning,
       and a garment of praise
       instead of a spirit of despair.
       They will be called oaks of righteousness,
       a planting of the LORD
       for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and restore the places long devastated;
       they will renew the ruined cities
       that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
       foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
       you will be named ministers of our God.
       You will feed on the wealth of nations,
       and in their riches you will boast.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 61:1 Hebrew; Septuagint the blind

7 Instead of their shame
       my people will receive a double portion,
       and instead of disgrace
       they will rejoice in their inheritance;
       and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
       and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
       I hate robbery and iniquity.
       In my faithfulness I will reward them
       and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
       and their offspring among the peoples.
       All who see them will acknowledge
       that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
       my soul rejoices in my God.
       For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
       and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
       as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
       and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
       and a garden causes seeds to grow,
       so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
       spring up before all nations.

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
       and your labor on what does not satisfy?
       Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
       and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;
       hear me, that your soul may live.
       I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
       my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
       a leader and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
       and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
       because of the LORD your God,
       the Holy One of Israel,
       for he has endowed you with splendor."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
       call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
       and the evil man his thoughts.
       Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
       and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,"
       declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow
       come down from heaven,
       and do not return to it
       without watering the earth
       and making it bud and flourish,
       so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
       It will not return to me empty,
       but will accomplish what I desire
       and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. 20 Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
       and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." [ a ]

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 12:6 Prov. 3:11,12

2 They covet fields and seize them,
       and houses, and take them.
       They defraud a man of his home,
       a fellowman of his inheritance.

3 Therefore, the LORD says:
       "I am planning disaster against this people,
       from which you cannot save yourselves.
       You will no longer walk proudly,
       for it will be a time of calamity.

4 In that day men will ridicule you;
       they will taunt you with this mournful song:
       'We are utterly ruined;
       my people's possession is divided up.
       He takes it from me!
       He assigns our fields to traitors.' "

5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD
       to divide the land by lot.

2 you who hate good and love evil;
       who tear the skin from my people
       and the flesh from their bones;

3 who eat my people's flesh,
       strip off their skin
       and break their bones in pieces;
       who chop them up like meat for the pan,
       like flesh for the pot?"

4 Then they will cry out to the LORD,
       but he will not answer them.
       At that time he will hide his face from them
       because of the evil they have done.

5 This is what the LORD says:
       "As for the prophets
       who lead my people astray,
       if one feeds them,
       they proclaim 'peace';
       if he does not,
       they prepare to wage war against him.

6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
       and darkness, without divination.
       The sun will set for the prophets,
       and the day will go dark for them.

7 The seers will be ashamed
       and the diviners disgraced.
       They will all cover their faces
       because there is no answer from God."

8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
       with the Spirit of the LORD,
       and with justice and might,
       to declare to Jacob his transgression,
       to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
       you rulers of the house of Israel,
       who despise justice
       and distort all that is right;

10 who build Zion with bloodshed,
       and Jerusalem with wickedness.

11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
       her priests teach for a price,
       and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
       Yet they lean upon the LORD and say,
       "Is not the LORD among us?
       No disaster will come upon us."

12 Therefore because of you,
       Zion will be plowed like a field,
       Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
       the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

2 Many nations will come and say,
       "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
       to the house of the God of Jacob.
       He will teach us his ways,
       so that we may walk in his paths."
       The law will go out from Zion,
       the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 He will judge between many peoples
       and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
       They will beat their swords into plowshares
       and their spears into pruning hooks.
       Nation will not take up sword against nation,
       nor will they train for war anymore.

4 Every man will sit under his own vine
       and under his own fig tree,
       and no one will make them afraid,
       for the LORD Almighty has spoken.

5 All the nations may walk
       in the name of their gods;
       we will walk in the name of the LORD
       our God for ever and ever.

3 "My people, what have I done to you?
       How have I burdened you? Answer me.

4 I brought you up out of Egypt
       and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
       I sent Moses to lead you,
       also Aaron and Miriam.

5 My people, remember
       what Balak king of Moab counseled
       and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
       Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
       that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."

6 With what shall I come before the LORD
       and bow down before the exalted God?
       Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
       with calves a year old?

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
       with ten thousand rivers of oil?
       Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
       the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God.