AMOS 9 "DESTRUCTION of ISRAEL; ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 9 "DESTRUCTION of ISRAEL; ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

9:1 The Destruction of Israel
I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:
"Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,And break them on the heads of them all.I will slay the last of them with the sword.He who flees from them shall not get away,And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.
2 "Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them;Though they climb up to heaven,From there I will bring them down; 3 And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel,From there I will search and take them;Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them; 4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies,From there I will command the sword,And it shall slay them.I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good."
5 The Lord GOD of hosts,He who touches the earth and it melts,And all who dwell there mourn;All of it shall swell like the River, And subside like the River of Egypt. 6 He who builds His layers in the sky,And has founded His strata in the earth;Who calls for the waters of the sea,And pours them out on the face of the earth — The LORD is His name.
7 "Are you not like the people of Ethiopia to Me,O children of Israel?" says the LORD."Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,The Philistines from Caphtor,And the Syrians from Kir?
8 "Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom,And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,"Says the LORD.
9 "For surely I will command,And will sift the house of Israel among all nations,As grain is sifted in a sieve;Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,Who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.'
11 Israel Will Be Restored
(cf. Acts 15:16,17)
"On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,And repair its damages;I will raise up its ruins,And rebuild it as in the days of old; 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,"Says the LORD who does this thing.
13 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,"When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,And all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. 15 I will plant them in their land,And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,"Says the LORD your God.
NKJV

AMOS 8 "VISION of the SUMMER FRUIT" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 8 "VISION of the SUMMER FRUIT"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

8:1 Vision of the Summer Fruit
Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And He said, "Amos, what do you see?"
So I said, "A basket of summer fruit."
Then the LORD said to me:
"The end has come upon My people Israel;I will not pass by them anymore. 3 And the songs of the temple Shall be wailing in that day,"Says the Lord GOD —
"Many dead bodies everywhere,They shall be thrown out in silence."
4 Hear this, you who swallow up the needy,And make the poor of the land fail,
5 Saying:
"When will the New Moon be past,That we may sell grain?And the Sabbath,That we may trade wheat?Making the ephah small and the shekel large,Falsifying the scales by deceit, 6 That we may buy the poor for silver,And the needy for a pair of sandals — Even sell the bad wheat?"
7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:"Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall the land not tremble for this,And everyone mourn who dwells in it?All of it shall swell like the River, Heave and subside Like the River of Egypt.
9 "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD,"That I will make the sun go down at noon,And I will darken the earth in broad daylight; 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,And all your songs into lamentation;I will bring sackcloth on every waist,And baldness on every head;I will make it like mourning for an only son,And its end like a bitter day.
11 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD,"That I will send a famine on the land,Not a famine of bread,Nor a thirst for water,But of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea,And from north to east;They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD,But shall not find it.
13 "In that day the fair virgins And strong young men Shall faint from thirst. 14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria,Who say,'As your god lives, O Dan!'And, 'As the way of Beersheba lives!'They shall fall and never rise again."
NKJV

AMOS 7 "VISION of the LOCUSTS; VISION of the FIRE; VISION of the PLUMB LINE; AMAZIAH's COMPLAINT" by vanderKOK

AMOS 7 "VISION of the LOCUSTS; VISION of the FIRE; VISION of the PLUMB LINE; AMAZIAH's COMPLAINT" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

7:1 Vision of the Locusts
Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king's mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:
"O Lord GOD, forgive, I pray!Oh, that Jacob may stand,For he is small!" 3 So the LORD relented concerning this."It shall not be," said the LORD.
4 Vision of the Fire

Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, the Lord GOD called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. 5 Then I said:
"O Lord GOD, cease, I pray!Oh, that Jacob may stand,For he is small!" 6 So the LORD relented concerning this."This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD.
7 Vision of the Plumb Line

Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?"
And I said, "A plumb line."
Then the Lord said:
"Behold, I am setting a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel;I will not pass by them anymore. 9 The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam."
10 Amaziah's Complaint

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said:
'Jeroboam shall die by the sword,And Israel shall surely be led away captive From their own land.'"
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:
"Go, you seer!Flee to the land of Judah.There eat bread,And there prophesy. 13 But never again prophesy at Bethel,For it is the king's sanctuary,And it is the royal residence."
14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:
"I was no prophet,Nor was I a son of a prophet,But I was a sheepbreeder And a tender of sycamore fruit. 15 Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock,And the LORD said to me,'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.' 16 Now therefore, hear the word of the LORD:You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel,And do not spout against the house of Isaac.'
17 "Therefore thus says the LORD:
'Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;Your land shall be divided by survey line;You shall die in a defiled land;And Israel shall surely be led away captive From his own land.'"
NKJV

AMOS 6 "WARNINGS TO ZION & SAMARIA" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 6 "WARNINGS TO ZION & SAMARIA"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

6:1 Warnings to Zion and Samaria
Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,And trust in Mount Samaria,Notable persons in the chief nation,To whom the house of Israel comes! 2 Go over to Calneh and see;And from there go to Hamath the great;Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.Are you better than these kingdoms?Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,Who cause the seat of violence to come near; 4 Who lie on beds of ivory,Stretch out on your couches,Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall; 5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; 6 Who drink wine from bowls,And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself,The LORD God of hosts says:
"I abhor the pride of Jacob,And hate his palaces;Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it."
9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, "Are there any more with you?"
Then someone will say, "None."
And he will say,"Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the LORD."
11 For behold, the LORD gives a command:He will break the great house into bits,And the little house into pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks?Does one plow there with oxen?Yet you have turned justice into gall,And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, 13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, "Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?"
14 "But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you,O house of Israel,"Says the LORD God of hosts;"And they will afflict you from the entrance of HamathTo the Valley of the Arabah."
NKJV

AMOS 5 "LAMENT for ISRAEL, A CALL for REPENTANCE; The DAY of the LORD" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 5 "LAMENT for ISRAEL, A CALL for REPENTANCE; The DAY of the LORD" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

5:1 A Lament for Israel
Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;She will rise no more.She lies forsaken on her land;There is no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord GOD:
"The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left,And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
4 A Call to Repentance

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
"Seek Me and live; 5 But do not seek Bethel,Nor enter Gilgal,Nor pass over to Beersheba;For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,And Bethel shall come to nothing. 6 Seek the LORD and live,Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,And devour it,With no one to quench it in Bethel — 7 You who turn justice to wormwood,And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!"
8 He made the Pleiades and Orion;He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night;He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth;The LORD is His name. 9 He rains ruin upon the strong,So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. 11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him,Though you have built houses of hewn stone,Yet you shall not dwell in them;You have planted pleasant vineyards,But you shall not drink wine from them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes;Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. 13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,That you may live;So the LORD God of hosts will be with you,As you have spoken. 15 Hate evil, love good;Establish justice in the gate.It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 The Day of the LORD

Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
"There shall be wailing in all streets,And they shall say in all the highways,'Alas! Alas!'They shall call the farmer to mourning,And skillful lamenters to wailing. 17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,For I will pass through you,"Says the LORD.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!For what good is the day of the LORD to you?It will be darkness, and not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion,And a bear met him!Or as though he went into the house,Leaned his hand on the wall,And a serpent bit him! 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light?Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 "I hate, I despise your feast days,And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,I will not accept them,Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24 But let justice run down like water,And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 "Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols,The star of your gods,Which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,"Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
NKJV

AMOS 4 "GOD's PUNISHMENT have NOT REFORMED ISRAEL; ISRAEL DID NOT ACCEPT CORRECTION" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 4 "GOD's PUNISHMENT have NOT REFORMED ISRAEL; ISRAEL DID NOT ACCEPT CORRECTION" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

4:1 God's Punishments Have Not Reformed Israel
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,Who oppress the poor,Who crush the needy,Who say to your husbands, "Bring wine, let us drink!" 2 The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:"Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks,And your posterity with fishhooks. 3 You will go out through broken walls,Each one straight ahead of her,And you will be cast into Harmon,"Says the LORD.
4 "Come to Bethel and transgress,At Gilgal multiply transgression;Bring your sacrifices every morning,Your tithes every three days. 5 Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,Proclaim and announce the freewill offerings;For this you love,You children of Israel!"Says the Lord GOD.
6 Israel Did Not Accept Correction

"Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities.And lack of bread in all your places;Yet you have not returned to Me,"Says the LORD.
7 "I also withheld rain from you,When there were still three months to the harvest.I made it rain on one city,I withheld rain from another city.One part was rained upon,And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,But they were not satisfied;Yet you have not returned to Me,"Says the LORD.
9 "I blasted you with blight and mildew.When your gardens increased,Your vineyards,Your fig trees,And your olive trees,The locust devoured them;Yet you have not returned to Me,"Says the LORD.
10 "I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt;Your young men I killed with a sword,Along with your captive horses;I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;Yet you have not returned to Me,"Says the LORD.
11 "I overthrew some of you,As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;Yet you have not returned to Me,"Says the LORD.
12 "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;Because I will do this to you,Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
13 For behold,He who forms mountains,And creates the wind,Who declares to man what his thought is,And makes the morning darkness,Who treads the high places of the earth — The LORD God of hosts is His name.
NKJV

AMOS 3 "AUTHORITY of the PROPHET's MESSAGE, PUNISHMENT for ISRAEL's SINS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 3 "AUTHORITY of the PROPHET's MESSAGE, PUNISHMENT for ISRAEL's SINS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

3:1 Authority of the Prophet's Message
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2 "You only have I known of all the families of the earth;Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."
3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? 5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared!Who will not fear?The Lord GOD has spoken!Who can but prophesy?
9 Punishment of Israel's Sins

"Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:'Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;See great tumults in her midst,And the oppressed within her. 10 For they do not know to do right,'Says the LORD,'Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.'"
11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"An adversary shall be all around the land;He shall sap your strength from you,And your palaces shall be plundered."
12 Thus says the LORD:
"As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion Two legs or a piece of an ear,So shall the children of Israel be taken out Who dwell in Samaria — In the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch! 13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,"Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, 14'That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;And the horns of the altar shall be cut off And fall to the ground. 15 I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house;The houses of ivory shall perish,And the great houses shall have an end,"Says the LORD.
NKJV

AMOS 2 "JUDGMENT on ISRAEL, JUDGMENT on JUDAH' recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 2 "JUDGMENT on ISRAEL, JUDGMENT on JUDAH'
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

2:1 Judgment on Israel
Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. 2 But I will send a fire upon Moab,And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth;Moab shall die with tumult,With shouting and trumpet sound. 3 And I will cut off the judge from its midst,And slay all its princes with him,"Says the LORD.
4 Judgment on Judah

Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they have despised the law of the LORD,And have not kept His commandments.Their lies lead them astray,Lies which their fathers followed. 5 But I will send a fire upon Judah,And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem."
6 Judgment on Israel

Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they sell the righteous for silver,And the poor for a pair of sandals. 7 They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,And pervert the way of the humble.A man and his father go in to the same girl,To defile My holy name. 8 They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge,And drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
9 "Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,Whose height was like the height of the cedars,And he was as strong as the oaks;Yet I destroyed his fruit above And his roots beneath. 10 Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,And led you forty years through the wilderness,To possess the land of the Amorite. 11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets,And some of your young men as Nazirites.Is it not so, O you children of Israel?"Says the LORD. 12'But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,And commanded the prophets saying,'Do not prophesy!'
13 "Behold, I am weighed down by you,As a cart full of sheaves is weighed down. 14 Therefore flight shall perish from the swift,The strong shall not strengthen his power,Nor shall the mighty deliver himself; 15 He shall not stand who handles the bow,The swift of foot shall not escape,Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself. 16 The most courageous men of might Shall flee naked in that day,"Says the LORD.
NKJV

AMOS 1 "JUDGMENT on ISRAEL's NEIGHBOR; JUDGMENT on the NATIONS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

AMOS 1 "JUDGMENT on ISRAEL's NEIGHBOR; JUDGMENT on the NATIONS"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

1:1 Judgments on Israel's Neighbors
The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said:
"The LORD roars from Zion,And utters His voice from Jerusalem;The pastures of the shepherds mourn,And the top of Carmel withers."
3 Judgment on the Nations

Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. 5 I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,And the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden.The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,"Says the LORD.
6 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to Edom. 7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,Which shall devour its palaces. 8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;I will turn My hand against Ekron,And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,"Says the Lord GOD.
9 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. 10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,Which shall devour its palaces."
11 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because he pursued his brother with the sword,And cast off all pity;His anger tore perpetually,And he kept his wrath forever. 12 But I will send a fire upon Teman,Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah."
13 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,I will not turn away its punishment,Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,That they might enlarge their territory. 14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,And it shall devour its palaces,Amid shouting in the day of battle,And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. 15 Their king shall go into captivity,He and his princes together,"Says the LORD.
NKJV

JOEL 2 "The DAY of the LORD; A CALL to REPENTANCE; The LAND REFRESHED; GOD's SPIRIT POURED OUT" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

JOEL 2 "The DAY of the LORD; A CALL to REPENTANCE; The LAND REFRESHED; GOD's SPIRIT POURED OUT" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

2:1 The Day of the LORD
Blow the trumpet in Zion,And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;For the day of the LORD is coming,For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess,A day of clouds and thick darkness,Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.A people come, great and strong,The like of whom has never been;Nor will there ever be any such after them,Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,And behind them a flame burns;The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,And behind them a desolate wilderness;Surely nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;And like swift steeds, so they run. 5 With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap,Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain;All faces are drained of color. 7 They run like mighty men,They climb the wall like men of war;Every one marches in formation,And they do not break ranks. 8 They do not push one another;Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons,They are not cut down. 9 They run to and fro in the city,They run on the wall;They climb into the houses,They enter at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them,The heavens tremble;The sun and moon grow dark,And the stars diminish their brightness. 11 The LORD gives voice before His army,For His camp is very great;For strong is the One who executes His word.For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible;Who can endure it?
12 A Call to Repentance
"Now, therefore," says the LORD,"Turn to Me with all your heart,With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;Return to the LORD your God,For He is gracious and merciful,Slow to anger, and of great kindness;And He relents from doing harm. 14 Who knows if He will turn and relent,And leave a blessing behind Him — A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast,Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people,Sanctify the congregation,Assemble the elders,Gather the children and nursing babes;Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD,Weep between the porch and the altar;Let them say,"Spare Your people, O LORD,And do not give Your heritage to reproach,That the nations should rule over them.Why should they say among the peoples,'Where is their God?'"
18 The Land Refreshed
(Acts 2:17)
Then the LORD will be zealous for His land,And pity His people. 19 The LORD will answer and say to His people,"Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,And you will be satisfied by them;I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
20 "But I will remove far from you the northern army,And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea;His stench will come up,And his foul odor will rise,Because he has done monstrous things."
21 Fear not, O land;Be glad and rejoice,For the LORD has done marvelous things! 22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;For the open pastures are springing up,And the tree bears its fruit;The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, you children of Zion,And rejoice in the LORD your God;For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you — The former rain,And the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,The crawling locust,The consuming locust,And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,And praise the name of the LORD your God,Who has dealt wondrously with you;And My people shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:I am the LORD your GodAnd there is no other.My people shall never be put to shame.
28 God's Spirit Poured Out

"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,Your old men shall dream dreams,Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,And the moon into blood,Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORDShall be saved.For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,As the LORD has said,Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
NKJV

JOEL 3 "GOD JUDGES the NATIONS; GOD BLESSES HIS PEOPLE" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

JOEL 3 "GOD JUDGES the NATIONS; GOD BLESSES HIS PEOPLE"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

3:1 God Judges the Nations
"For behold, in those days and at that time,When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations,And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations;They have also divided up My land. 3 They have cast lots for My people,Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4 "Indeed, what have you to do with Me,O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?Will you retaliate against Me?But if you retaliate against Me,Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head; 5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold,And have carried into your temples My prized possessions. 6 Also the people of Judah and the people of JerusalemYou have sold to the Greeks,That you may remove them far from their borders.
7 "Behold, I will raise them Out of the place to which you have sold them,And will return your retaliation upon your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the people of Judah,And they will sell them to the Sabeans, To a people far off;For the LORD has spoken."
9 Proclaim this among the nations:"Prepare for war!Wake up the mighty men,Let all the men of war draw near,Let them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears;Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'" 11 Assemble and come, all you nations,And gather together all around.Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
12 "Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.Come, go down;For the winepress is full,The vats overflow — For their wickedness is great."
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will grow dark,And the stars will diminish their brightness. 16 The LORD also will roar from Zion,And utter His voice from Jerusalem;The heavens and earth will shake;But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,And the strength of the children of Israel.
17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.Then Jerusalem shall be holy,And no aliens shall ever pass through her again."
18 God Blesses His People
And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine,The hills shall flow with milk,And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORDAnd water the Valley of Acacias.
19 "Egypt shall be a desolation,And Edom a desolate wilderness,Because of violence against the people of Judah,For they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall abide forever,And Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;For the LORD dwells in Zion."
NKJV

JOEL 1 "LOCUST PLAGUE in JUDAH; LAND LAID WASTE; MOURNING for the LAND" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

JOEL 1 "LOCUST PLAGUE in JUDAH; LAND LAID WASTE; MOURNING for the LAND" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

1:1 The Locust Plague in Judah
The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 The Land Laid Waste
(Ex 10:1-20)Hear this, you elders,And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!Has anything like this happened in your days,Or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it,Let your children tell their children,And their children another generation.
4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep;And wail, all you drinkers of wine,Because of the new wine,For it has been cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up against My land,Strong, and without number;His teeth are the teeth of a lion,And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7 He has laid waste My vine,And ruined My fig tree;He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;Its branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth. 9 The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD;The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD. 10 The field is wasted,The land mourns;For the grain is ruined,The new wine is dried up,The oil fails.
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,Wail, you vinedressers,For the wheat and the barley;Because the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The vine has dried up,And the fig tree has withered;The pomegranate tree,The palm tree also,And the apple tree — All the trees of the field are withered;Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
13 Mourning for the Land
Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;Wail, you who minister before the altar;Come, lie all night in sackcloth,You who minister to my God;For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Consecrate a fast,Call a sacred assembly;Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God,And cry out to the LORD.
15 Alas for the day!For the day of the LORD is at hand;It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes,Joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed shrivels under the clods,Storehouses are in shambles;Barns are broken down,For the grain has withered. 18 How the animals groan!The herds of cattle are restless,Because they have no pasture;Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
19 O LORD, to You I cry out;For fire has devoured the open pastures,And a flame has burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You,For the water brooks are dried up,And fire has devoured the open pastures.
NKJV

HOSEA 14 "ISRAEL RESTORED at LAST" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 14 "ISRAEL RESTORED at LAST"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

14:1 Israel Restored at Last
O Israel, return to the LORD your God,For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; 2 Take words with you,And return to the LORD.Say to Him,"Take away all iniquity;Receive us graciously,For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us,We will not ride on horses,Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.'For in You the fatherless finds mercy."
4 "I will heal their backsliding,I will love them freely,For My anger has turned away from him. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel;He shall grow like the lily,And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread;His beauty shall be like an olive tree,And his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;They shall be revived like grain,And grow like a vine.Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 "Ephraim shall say, 'What have I to do anymore with idols?'I have heard and observed him.I am like a green cypress tree;Your fruit is found in Me."
9 Who is wise?Let him understand these things.Who is prudent?Let him know them.For the ways of the LORD are right;The righteous walk in them,But transgressors stumble in them.
NKJV

HOSEA 13 "RELENTLESS JUDGMENT on ISRAEL"recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 13 "RELENTLESS JUDGMENT on ISRAEL"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

Relentless Judgment on Israel
When Ephraim spoke, trembling,He exalted himself in Israel;But when he offended through Baal worship, he died. 2 Now they sin more and more,And have made for themselves molded images,Idols of their silver, according to their skill;All of it is the work of craftsmen.They say of them,"Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!" 3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud And like the early dew that passes away,Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney.
4 "Yet I am the LORD your GodEver since the land of Egypt,And you shall know no God but Me;For there is no savior besides Me. 5 I knew you in the wilderness,In the land of great drought. 6 When they had pasture, they were filled;They were filled and their heart was exalted;Therefore they forgot Me.
7 "So I will be to them like a lion;Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; 8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs;I will tear open their rib cage,And there I will devour them like a lion.The wild beast shall tear them.
9 "O Israel, you are destroyed, But your help is from Me. 10 I will be your King; Where is any other,That he may save you in all your cities?And your judges to whom you said,'Give me a king and princes'? 11 I gave you a king in My anger,And took him away in My wrath.
12 "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;His sin is stored up. 13 The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.He is an unwise son,For he should not stay long where children are born.
14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes."
15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren,An east wind shall come;The wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness.Then his spring shall become dry,And his fountain shall be dried up.He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize. 16 Samaria is held guilty, For she has rebelled against her God.They shall fall by the sword,Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,And their women with child ripped open.
NKJV

HOSEA 12 "GOD's CHARGE AGAINST EPHRAIM (cont)" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 12 "GOD's CHARGE AGAINST EPHRAIM (cont)"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

"Ephraim feeds on the wind,And pursues the east wind;He daily increases lies and desolation.Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,And oil is carried to Egypt.
2 "The LORD also brings a charge against Judah,And will punish Jacob according to his ways;According to his deeds He will recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb,And in his strength he struggled with God. 4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;He wept, and sought favor from Him.He found Him in Bethel,And there He spoke to us — 5 That is, the LORD God of hosts.The LORD is His memorable name. 6 So you, by the help of your God, return;Observe mercy and justice,And wait on your God continually.
7 "A cunning Canaanite!Deceitful scales are in his hand;He loves to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said,'Surely I have become rich,I have found wealth for myself;In all my labors They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.'
9 "But I am the LORD your God,Ever since the land of Egypt;I will again make you dwell in tents,As in the days of the appointed feast. 10 I have also spoken by the prophets,And have multiplied visions;I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets."
11 Though Gilead has idols — Surely they are vanity — Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal,Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 Jacob fled to the country of Syria;Israel served for a spouse,And for a wife he tended sheep. 13 By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,And by a prophet he was preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly;Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,And return his reproach upon him.
NKJV

HOSEA 10 "ISRAEL's SIN & CAPTIVITY" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 10 "ISRAEL's SIN & CAPTIVITY"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

10:1 Israel's Sin and Captivity
Israel empties his vine;He brings forth fruit for himself.According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars;According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided;Now they are held guilty.He will break down their altars;He will ruin their sacred pillars.
3 For now they say,"We have no king,Because we did not fear the LORD.And as for a king, what would he do for us?" 4 They have spoken words,Swearing falsely in making a covenant.Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear Because of the calf of Beth Aven.For its people mourn for it,And its priests shriek for it — Because its glory has departed from it. 6 The idol also shall be carried to AssyriaAs a present for King Jareb.Ephraim shall receive shame,And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off Like a twig on the water. 8 Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,Shall be destroyed.The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;They shall say to the mountains, "Cover us!"And to the hills, "Fall on us!"
9 "O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah;There they stood.The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity Did not overtake them. 10 When it is My desire, I will chasten them.Peoples shall be gathered against them When I bind them for their two transgressions. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer That loves to thresh grain;But I harnessed her fair neck,I will make Ephraim pull a plow.Judah shall plow;Jacob shall break his clods."
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;Reap in mercy;Break up your fallow ground,For it is time to seek the LORD,Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
13 You have plowed wickedness;You have reaped iniquity.You have eaten the fruit of lies,Because you trusted in your own way,In the multitude of your mighty men. 14 Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,And all your fortresses shall be plundered As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle — A mother dashed in pieces upon her children. 15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,Because of your great wickedness.At dawn the king of IsraelShall be cut off utterly.
NKJV

HOSEA 11 "GOD's CONTINUING LOVE for ISRAEL; GOD's CHARGE AGAINST EPHRAIM" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 11 "GOD's CONTINUING LOVE for ISRAEL; GOD's CHARGE AGAINST EPHRAIM" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

11:1 God's Continuing Love for Israel
"When Israel was a child, I loved him,And out of Egypt I called My son. 2 As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals,And burned incense to carved images.
3 "I taught Ephraim to walk,Taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I drew them with gentle cords, With bands of love,And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.
5 "He shall not return to the land of Egypt;But the Assyrian shall be his king,Because they refused to repent. 6 And the sword shall slash in his cities,Devour his districts,And consume them,Because of their own counsels. 7 My people are bent on backsliding from Me.Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him.
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim?How can I hand you over, Israel?How can I make you like Admah?How can I set you like Zeboiim?My heart churns within Me;My sympathy is stirred. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;I will not again destroy Ephraim.For I am God, and not man,The Holy One in your midst;And I will not come with terror.
10 "They shall walk after the LORD.He will roar like a lion.When He roars,Then His sons shall come trembling from the west; 11 They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,Like a dove from the land of Assyria.And I will let them dwell in their houses,"Says the LORD.
12 God's Charge Against Ephraim
"Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,And the house of Israel with deceit;But Judah still walks with God,Even with the Holy One who is faithful.
NKJV

HOSEA 8 "The APOSTASY of ISRAEL" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 8 "The APOSTASY of ISRAEL"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

8:1 The Apostasy of Israel
"Set the trumpet to your mouth!He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD,Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law. 2 Israel will cry to Me,'My God, we know You!' 3 Israel has rejected the good;The enemy will pursue him.
4 "They set up kings, but not by Me;They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves — That they might be cut off. 5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria!My anger is aroused against them — How long until they attain to innocence? 6 For from Israel is even this:A workman made it, and it is not God;But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
7 "They sow the wind,And reap the whirlwind.The stalk has no bud;It shall never produce meal.If it should produce,Aliens would swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up;Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is no pleasure. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria,Like a wild donkey alone by itself;Ephraim has hired lovers. 10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations,Now I will gather them;And they shall sorrow a little, Because of the burden of the king of princes.
11 "Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,They have become for him altars for sinning. 12 I have written for him the great things of My law,But they were considered a strange thing. 13 For the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it,But the LORD does not accept them.Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.They shall return to Egypt.
14 "For Israel has forgotten his Maker,And has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities;But I will send fire upon his cities,And it shall devour his palaces."
NKJV

HOSEA 9 "JUDGMENT of ISRAEL's SIN" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 9 "JUDGMENT of ISRAEL's SIN"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

9:1 Judgment of Israel's Sin
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,For you have played the harlot against your God.You have made love for hire on every threshing floor. 2 The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them,And the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the LORD's land,But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,And shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD,Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him.It shall be like bread of mourners to them;All who eat it shall be defiled.For their bread shall be for their own life;It shall not come into the house of the LORD.
5 What will you do in the appointed day,And in the day of the feast of the LORD? 6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.Egypt shall gather them up;Memphis shall bury them.Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;Thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;The days of recompense have come.Israel knows!The prophet is a fool,The spiritual man is insane,Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. 8 The watchman of Ephraim is with my God;But the prophet is a fowler's snare in all his ways — Enmity in the house of his God. 9 They are deeply corrupted,As in the days of Gibeah.He will remember their iniquity;He will punish their sins.
10 "I found IsraelLike grapes in the wilderness;I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.But they went to Baal Peor,And separated themselves to that shame;They became an abomination like the thing they loved. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird — No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception! 12 Though they bring up their children,Yet I will bereave them to the last man.Yes, woe to them when I depart from them! 13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer."
14 Give them, O LORD — What will You give?Give them a miscarrying womb And dry breasts!
15 "All their wickedness is in Gilgal,For there I hated them.Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house;I will love them no more.All their princes are rebellious. 16 Ephraim is stricken,Their root is dried up;They shall bear no fruit.Yes, were they to bear children,I would kill the darlings of their womb."
17 My God will cast them away,Because they did not obey Him;And they shall be wanderers among the nations.

HOSEA 6, A CALL to REPENTANCE; IMPENITENCE of ISRAEL & JUDAH, vanderKOK

HOSEA 6 "A CALL to REPENTANCE; IMPENITENCE of ISRAEL & JUDAH"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

6:1 A Call to Repentance
Come, and let us return to the LORD;For He has torn, but He will heal us;He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us;On the third day He will raise us up,That we may live in His sight. 3 Let us know,Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.His going forth is established as the morning;He will come to us like the rain,Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
4 Impenitence of Israel and Judah

"O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?O Judah, what shall I do to you?For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,And like the early dew it goes away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,I have slain them by the words of My mouth;And your judgments are like light that goes forth. 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 "But like men they transgressed the covenant;There they dealt treacherously with Me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers And defiled with blood. 9 As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem;Surely they commit lewdness. 10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:There is the harlotry of Ephraim;Israel is defiled. 11 Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,When I return the captives of My people.
NKJV

HOSEA 7 "ISRAEL HAS REBELLED AGAINST GOD; FUTILE RELIANCE on the NATIONS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 7 "ISRAEL HAS REBELLED AGAINST GOD; FUTILE RELIANCE on the NATIONS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

7:1 Israel Has Rebelled Against God
"When I would have healed Israel,Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,And the wickedness of Samaria.For they have committed fraud;A thief comes in;A band of robbers takes spoil outside. 2 They do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness;Now their own deeds have surrounded them;They are before My face. 3 They make a king glad with their wickedness,And princes with their lies.
4 "They are all adulterers.Like an oven heated by a baker — He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,Until it is leavened. 5 In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine;He stretched out his hand with scoffers. 6 They prepare their heart like an oven,While they lie in wait;Their baker sleeps all night;In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot, like an oven,And have devoured their judges;All their kings have fallen.None among them calls upon Me.
8 "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;Ephraim is a cake unturned. 9 Aliens have devoured his strength,But he does not know it;Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,Yet he does not know it. 10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face,But they do not return to the LORD their God,Nor seek Him for all this.
11 Futile Reliance on the Nations
"Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense — They call to Egypt,They go to Assyria. 12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them;I will bring them down like birds of the air;I will chastise them According to what their congregation has heard.
13 "Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!Destruction to them,Because they have transgressed against Me!Though I redeemed them,Yet they have spoken lies against Me. 14 They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds.
"They assemble together for grain and new wine,They rebel against Me; 15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,Yet they devise evil against Me; 16 They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow.Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings of their tongue.This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
NKJV

HOSEA 4 " GOD's CHARGE AGAINST ISRAEL; IDOLATRY of ISRAEL" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 4 " GOD's CHARGE AGAINST ISRAEL; IDOLATRY of ISRAEL"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

You children of Israel,For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:"There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying,Killing and stealing and committing adultery,They break all restraint,With bloodshed upon bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn;And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air;Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 "Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;For your people are like those who contend with the priest. 5 Therefore you shall stumble in the day;The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;And I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.Because you have rejected knowledge,I also will reject you from being priest for Me;Because you have forgotten the law of your God,I also will forget your children.
7 "The more they increased,The more they sinned against Me;I will change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of My people;They set their heart on their iniquity. 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest.So I will punish them for their ways,And reward them for their deeds. 10 For they shall eat, but not have enough;They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.
11 The Idolatry of Israel
'Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. 12 My people ask counsel from their wooden idols,And their staff informs them.For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,And they have played the harlot against their God. 13 They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,And burn incense on the hills,Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,Because their shade is good.Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,And your brides commit adultery. 14'I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,Nor your brides when they commit adultery;For the men themselves go apart with harlots,And offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
15 "Though you, Israel, play the harlot,Let not Judah offend.Do not come up to Gilgal,Nor go up to Beth Aven,Nor swear an oath, saying, 'As the LORD lives' —
16 "For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf;Now the LORD will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.
17 "Ephraim is joined to idols,Let him alone. 18 Their drink is rebellion,They commit harlotry continually.Her rulers dearly love dishonor. 19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
NKJV

HOSEA 5 "PENDING JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL & JUDAH" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 5 "PENDING JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL & JUDAH"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

5:1 Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah
"Hear this, O priests!Take heed, O house of Israel!Give ear, O house of the king!For yours is the judgment,Because you have been a snare to MizpahAnd a net spread on Tabor. 2 The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter,Though I rebuke them all. 3 I know Ephraim,And Israel is not hidden from Me;For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry;Israel is defiled.
4 "They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God,For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst,And they do not know the LORD. 5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;Judah also stumbles with them.
6 "With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the LORD,But they will not find Him;He has withdrawn Himself from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously with the LORD,For they have begotten pagan children.Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
8 "Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah,The trumpet in Ramah!Cry aloud at Beth Aven,'Look behind you, O Benjamin!' 9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.
10 "The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark;I will pour out My wrath on them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment,Because he willingly walked by human precept. 12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,And to the house of Judah like rottenness.
13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness,And Judah saw his wound,Then Ephraim went to AssyriaAnd sent to King Jareb;Yet he cannot cure you,Nor heal 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 them and go away;I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense.Then they will seek My face;In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
NKJV

HOSEA 3 "ISRAEL WILL RETURN to GOD" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 3 "ISRAEL WILL RETURN to GOD"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

3:1 Israel Will Return to God
Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans."

2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man — so, too, will I be toward you."

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
NKJV

HOSEA 1 "HOSEA's UNFAITHFUL WIFE; FAMILY of HOSEA; RESTORATION of ISRAEL" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 1 "HOSEA's UNFAITHFUL WIFE; FAMILY of HOSEA; RESTORATION of ISRAEL" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

1:1 Hosea's Unfaithful Wife
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
2 The Family of Hosea

When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:
"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry,For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD."
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to him:
"Call his name Jezreel,For in a little whileI will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."
6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:
"Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,But I will utterly take them away. 7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,Will save them by the LORD their God,And will not save them by bow,Nor by sword or battle,By horses or horsemen."
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:
"Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people,And I will not be your God.
10 The Restoration of Israel
'Yet the number of the children of IsraelShall be as the sand of the sea,Which cannot be measured or numbered.And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them,'You are not My people,' There it shall be said to them,'You are sons of the living God.' 11 Then the children of Judah and the children of IsraelShall be gathered together,And appoint for themselves one head;And they shall come up out of the land,For great will be the day of Jezreel!
NKJV

HOSEA 2 "GOD's UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE; GOD's MERCY on HIS PEOPLE" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

HOSEA 2 "GOD's UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE; GOD's MERCY on HIS PEOPLE" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

2:1 Say to your brethren,'My people,' And to your sisters,'Mercy is shown.'
2 God's Unfaithful People

"Bring charges against your mother, bring charges;For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!Let her put away her harlotries from her sight,And her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born,And make her like a wilderness,And set her like a dry land,And slay her with thirst.
4 "I will not have mercy on her children,For they are the children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot;She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,Who give me my bread and my water,My wool and my linen,My oil and my drink.'
6 "Therefore, behold,I will hedge up your way with thorns,And wall her in,So that she cannot find her paths. 7 She will chase her lovers,But not overtake them;Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.Then she will say,'I will go and return to my first husband,For then it was better for me than now.' 8 For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,And multiplied her silver and gold — Which they prepared for Baal.
9 "Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season,And will take back My wool and My linen,Given to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,And no one shall deliver her from My hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease,Her feast days,Her New Moons,Her Sabbaths — All her appointed feasts.
12 "And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,Of which she has said,'These are my wages that my lovers have given me.'So I will make them a forest,And the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,And went after her lovers;But Me she forgot," says the LORD.
14 God's Mercy on His People
'Therefore, behold, I will allure her,Will bring her into the wilderness,And speak comfort to her. 15 I will give her her vineyards from there,And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;She shall sing there,As in the days of her youth,As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 "And it shall be, in that day,"Says the LORD,"That you will call Me'My Husband,' And no longer call Me'My Master,' 17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,And they shall be remembered by their name no more. 18 In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field,With the birds of the air,And with the creeping things of the ground.Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,To make them lie down safely.
19 "I will betroth you to Me forever;Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice,In lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,And you shall know the LORD.
21 "It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer," says the LORD;"I will answer the heavens,And they shall answer the earth. 22 The earth shall answer With grain,With new wine,And with oil;They shall answer Jezreel. 23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!'And they shall say, 'You are my God!'"
NKJV

DANIEL 11 "WARRING KINGS of NORTH & SOUTH; NORTHERN KINGS BLASPHEMIES; NORTHERN KINGS CONQUESTS" by vanderKOK

DANIEL 11 "WARRING KINGS of NORTH & SOUTH; NORTHERN KINGS BLASPHEMIES; NORTHERN KINGS CONQUESTS" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

11:1 "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.) 2 And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 4 And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.
5 Warring Kings of North and South

"Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. 6 And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. 7 But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. 8 And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.
9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. 10 However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
11 "And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. 12 When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.
14 "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. 15 So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. 16 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
17 "He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him. 18 After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle. 21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him. 26 Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. 28 While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29 The Northern King's Blasphemies

"At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage.
"So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. 34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
36 "Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
40 The Northern King's Conquests

"At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
NKJV

DANIEL 12 "PROPHESY of the END TIME" recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

DANIEL 12 "PROPHESY of the END TIME"
recorded for your spiritual enrichment by vanderKOK

12:1 Prophecy of the End Time
"At that time Michael shall stand up,The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;And there shall be a time of trouble,Such as never was since there was a nation,Even to that time.And at that time your people shall be delivered,Every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,Some to everlasting life,Some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament,And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,"How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?"
7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?"
9 And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
13 "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."
NKJV