Retribution for Israel’s Sin

¹Israel was a luxuriant vine,yielding fruit for himself.The more his fruit increased,the more he increased the altars.The better his land produced,the better he made the sacred pillars.

²Their hearts are devious;now they must bear their guilt.The LORD will break down their altarsand demolish their sacred pillars.

³Surely now they will say,“We have no king,for we do not revere the LORD.What can a king do for us?”

⁴They speak mere words;with false oaths they make covenants.So judgment springs uplike poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

⁵The people of Samaria will fearfor the calf of Beth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn over itwith its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced in its glory—for it has been taken from them into exile.

⁶Yes, it will be carried to Assyriaas tribute to the great king.Ephraimwill be seized with shame;Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.

⁷Samaria will be carried off with her kinglike a twig on the surface of the water.

⁸The high places of Avenwill be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel;thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel,and there you have remained.Did not the battle in Gibeahovertake the sons of iniquity?

¹⁰I will chasten them when I please;nations will be gathered against themto put them in bondagefor their double transgression.

¹¹Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh;but I will place a yoke on her fair neck.I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow,and Jacob will break the hard ground.

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousnessand reap the fruit of loving devotion;break up your unplowed ground.For it is time to seek the LORDuntil He comes and sends righteousnessupon you like rain.

¹³You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;you have eaten the fruit of lies.Because you have trusted in your own wayand in the multitude of your mighty men,

¹⁴the roar of battle will rise against your people,so that all your fortresses will be demolishedas Shalman devastated Beth-arbelin the day of battle,when mothers were dashed to piecesalong with their children.

¹⁵Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel,because of your great wickedness.When the day dawns,the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

¹Cast your bread upon the waters,for after many days you will find it again.

²Divide your portion among seven, or even eight,for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.

³If the clouds are full,they will pour out rain upon the earth;whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

⁴He who watches the wind will fail to sow,and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.

⁵As you do not know the path of the wind,or how the bones are formedin a mother’s womb,so you cannot understand the work of God,the Maker of all things.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,and do not rest your hands in the evening,for you do not know which will succeed,whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

Enjoy Your Years

⁷Light is sweet,and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

⁸So if a man lives many years,let him rejoice in them all.But let him remember the days of darkness,for they will be many.Everything to come is futile.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, while you are young,and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.Walk in the ways of your heartand in the sight of your eyes,but know that for all these thingsGod will bring you to judgment.

¹⁰So banish sorrow from your heart,and cast off pain from your body,for youth and vigor are fleeting.

Job’s Former Blessings

¹And Job continued his discourse:

²“How I long for the months gone by,for the days when God watched over me,

³when His lamp shone above my head,and by His light I walked through the darkness,

⁴when I was in my prime,when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was still with meand my children were around me,

⁶when my steps were bathed in creamand the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷When I went out to the city gateand took my seat in the public square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew,and the old men rose to their feet.

⁹The princes refrained from speakingand covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The voices of the nobles were hushed,and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed,and those who saw me commended me,

¹²because I rescued the poor who cried outand the fatherless who had no helper.

¹³The dying man blessed me,and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;justice was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵I served as eyes to the blindand as feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy,and I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjustand snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought: ‘I will die in my nestand multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters,and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

²⁰My glory is ever new within me,and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹Men listened to me with expectation,waiting silently for my counsel.

²²After my words, they spoke no more;my speech settled on them like dew.

²³They waited for me as for rainand drank in my words like spring showers.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they did not believe it;the light of my countenance was precious.

²⁵I chose their course and presided as chief.So I dwelt as a king among his troops,as a comforter of the mourners.

God Judges the Earth

¹Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers?Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

²No, in your hearts you devise injustice;with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.

³The wicked are estranged from the womb;the liars go astray from birth.

⁴Their venom is like the venom of a snake,like a cobra that shuts its ears,

⁵refusing to hear the tune of the charmerwho skillfully weaves his spell.

⁶O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.

⁷May they vanishlike water that runs off;when they draw the bow,may their arrows be blunted.

⁸Like a slug that dissolves in its slime,like a woman’s stillborn child,may they never see the sun.

⁹Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.

¹⁰The righteous will rejoicewhen they see they are avenged;they will wash their feetin the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Then men will say,“There is surely a reward for the righteous!There is surely a God who judges the earth!”