2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He said, "Take a wife who is a harlot and have children with her, for the land has committed flagrant harlotry by forsaking the LORD." 3 So Hosea took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 The LORD said, "Name this son Jezreel, for in a short time I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon Jehu. I will cause the kingdom of Israel to cease." 5 "On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

6 Gomer conceive again and gave birth to a daughter. The LORD said to Hosea, "Name her Loruhamah, for I will have no more mercy upon the house of Israel, but will utterly removed her people." 7 "But I will have compassion on the house of Judah. I will deliver them by the hand of their God. This will not be done with bow, sword, horses or horsemen."

8 After she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived again and bore a son. 9 The LORD said, "Name him Loammi, for these are not My people and I will not be their God."

10 "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said of them, 'You are not my people,' there it shall be said to them, You are sons of the living God." 11 "And both the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah shall be gathered together. They will appoint one leader, for the day of Jezreel will be great."

Hosea 2 - RWB Paraphrase (23 V)
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Punishment And Restoration
1 "Speak to your brethren, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah," 2 "plead with your mother, for she has not been faithful to her husband. Ask her to put away her whoring ways." 3 "Otherwise I will strip her naked like she was at her birth. She will be made like the wilderness and the desert. I will slay her with thirst." 4 "Neither will I have compassion on her children because they are children of harlotry." 5 "Their mother has played the harlot and conceived them while acting shamefully. She has chosen to go after her lovers who paid her with bread, clothing, oil and drink." 6 "Because of her evil ways I will hedge her up with thorns and build a wall around her to keep her from the paths she is used to traveling." 7 "Then when she goes after her lovers, she will not find them. Then she will decide to go back to her first husband, for she had it better when she was with him."

COMMENT: The allegory here is that Israel had it better when they let God lead them. He was her first husband.

8 "She does not realize that it was I who gave her the grain, new wine and the oil. I lavished her with silver and gold, which she used for Baal." 9 "So, I will take back My grain at harvest time and My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax which I gave to cover her nakedness." 10 "Then her lewdness will be exposed to her lovers and no one will rescue her from My hand." 11 "I will put an end to her gaiety, feast days, new moons, Sabbaths and all her solemn feasts." 12 I will ruin her vines and fig trees, which she claimed were pay from her lovers. I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will eat from them. 13 "I will punish her for the days she offered sacrifices to the Baals, and adorn herself with her jewelry. She followed her lovers and forgot Me," declares the LORD.

14 "But I will allure her and bring her back into the wilderness while speaking kindly to her." 15 "I will give back her vineyards and she will sing in the valley of Achor the way she sang in her youth when she came up from the land of Egypt."

16 "In that day, " declares the LORD, "You will call me your husband no longer call me master." 17 "I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips so that their names are no longer invoked." 18 "In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. I will remove the bow, the sword and battle from the earth. Then all may lie down in safety." 19 "You will be betrothed to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and compassion." 20 "When you have been betrothed to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the LORD." 21 "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD."I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth." 22 "And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil. And they will respond to Jezreel." 23 "I will plant her for Myself in the land. I will show my love to the one I previously said I did not love. Those who had not been called My people will become My people and they will say, 'You are my God.'."

Hosea 3 - RWB Paraphrase (5 V)
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Hosea Is Reconciled To His Wife
1 Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love your wife as you first loved her, even though she is an adulteress. This is the way the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."

2 So I bought Gomer for fifteen shekels (6 ounces) of silver and an homer and a half of barley (about 10 bushels). 3 I said to her, "Stay with me for many days as my wife and belong to no other man." 4 "For Israel will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol." 5 "After this Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. In the last days they will come trembling to the LORD and to His blessings."

Hosea 4 - RWB Paraphrase (19 V)
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Israel's Sinfulness
1 "Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land. There is no truth, mercy or knowledge of God in the land." 2 "There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery. They break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed." 3 "Because of this the land mourns. Everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Even the fish of the sea are diminished." 4 "Do not reprove this people, for they are contentious even with a priest." 5 "Day and night they stumble right along with their prophets. Therefore I will destroy your mother."

6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

COMMENT: Where does true knowledge come from but from God? Where do we learn of God? We pray, read His word and give time to thinking on what we learn while reading and praying.

7 "The more they increased, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame." 8 "The priests feed on the sins of my people, relishing their wickedness." 9 "They are like the people. I will punish them both for their ways and repay their deeds." 10 "They will eat but not be satisfied. They will play the harlot but not be increased, because they have stopped paying attention to the LORD." 11 "Instead they focus on harlotry and wine, old and new, and their understanding is taken away."

12 "My people consult wooden idols and get answers from a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they are unfaithful to their God." 13 "They offer sacrifices on the tops of mountains and burn incense on the hills under oaks, poplar and terebinth, where they enjoy the shade. Because of this your daughters play the harlot and your brides commit adultery." 14 "I will not punish your daughters or your brides when they commit adultery, for the men also consort with harlots and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes. The people are without understanding. They are ruined." 15 "O Judah, do not commit adultery as Israel has done. Do not go to Gilgal, or up to Bethaven, and swear, saying, 'As surely as the LORD lives!'" 16 "Israel is like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?" 17 "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone." 18 "They are a band of drunkards, giving themselves to harlotry and loving their shame." 19 "A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them only shame."

Hosea 5 - RWB Paraphrase (15 V)
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God's Judgment Against Israel
1 "Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Let the king listen, too! This judgment applies to you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor." 2 "Those who revolt have gone deep into depravity and I will chasten every one of them." 3 I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from My sight. Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution, and Israel is corrupt. 4 "Their deeds prevent them from turning to their God. Their spirit of harlotry keeps them from knowing Him." 5 "Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Their pride testifies against them. Judah has also stumbled with them." 6 "They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but will not find Him, for He has withdrawn." 7 "Unfaithful to the LORD, they give birth to illegitimate children. Their new moon festivals devour them and their fields."

8 "Blow the horn in Gibeah and Ramah. Sound the alarm at Bethaven. Tremble O Benjamin!" 9 "In the day of their rebuke Ephraim will become a desolation among the tribes of Israel. I have declared what will surely come to pass."

10 "The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary. I will pour out My wrath on them like a flood of water." 11 "Ephraim is oppressed and crushed in judgment, because he followed man and not God." 12 "I am like a moth to Ephraim, and rottenness to the people of Judah." 13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria's great king for help. But he is not able to heal your sores." 14 "I will be like a lion to Ephraim as well as to Judah. I will tear them to shreads and no one will deliver them." 15 "I will not come back until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face. When they are afflicted, then they will earnestly seek Me."

Hosea 6 - RWB Paraphrase (11 V)
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1 "Come, let us return to the LORD, for He has wounded us, but He will bandage and heal us." 2 "After two days He will revive us and the next day He will raise us up in order that we may live in His presence."

3 "Let us acknowledge the LORD and seek to know Him. As surely as the dawn comes, He will appear, coming to us like the early and the latter rain on the earth."

God Wants Israel's Love
4 "What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning dew that is quickly dried up." 5 "Therefore I have sent My prophets to cut you in pieces and I have killed you with the words of My mouth. My judgments flashed like lightning upon you."

6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in your knowledge of Me, instead of burnt offerings.

COMMENT:

Matthew 9:13 "Now, go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

7 "Like men they have transgressed the covenant, and dealt treacherously with Me."

8 "Gilead is a city of wicked men making bloody footprints wherever they walk." 9 "A band of priests on the way to Shechem wait like raiders to murder. They have committed shameful crimes."

10 "I have seen a horrible thing in Israel. She has defiled herself with harlotry." 11 "And for you, O Judah, a reckoning is appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people."

Hosea 7 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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Israel Is Like A Crooked Bow
1 "I wanted to heal Israel, but Ephraim's iniquity was exposed and Samaria's crimes were revealed. They practice deceit. Thieves break into houses and bandits rob in the streets." 2 "They do not consider that I remember all their wickedness. Their sins engulf them, and are always before Me." 3 "And the king is happy with their wickedness, while their lies satisfy the princes." 4 "They are all adulterers burning with heat like an oven ready to bake bread." 5 "On the day of the festival for the king the princes become inflamed with wine and the king locks arms with the mockers." 6 "Their hearts are like an oven as they make their plots. Their anger smolders all night and in the morning the flame springs up." 7 "In the heat of their passion they consume their rulers and cause their kings to fall. None of them call on Me."

8 "Ephraim mixes with the nations, and has become a cake that has not been turned." 9 "Strangers devour his strength without him knowing it. His hair turns gray and he does not know it."

10 "Israel's arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or seek Him." 11 "So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without any sense. He calls to Egypt, and looks to Assyria." 12 "As they go to them I will spread My net over them and bring them down like birds of the sky. I will chastise them for their wicked deeds."

13 "Woe to them, for they have rebelled against Me, and destruction is theirs! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me." 14 "When they wail on their beds they are not crying to Me from their heart. They turn from Me as they get together for the sake of their grain and new wine." 15 "Though it is I who give them strength, they use it against Me." 16 "They do not turn to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt."

Hosea 8 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Israel Will Reap The Whirlwind
1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! The enemy comes against the house of the LORD Like an eagle, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law." 2 "They cry out to Me, 'My God, we are of Israel and we know You!'" 3 "But Israel has rejected what is good, so the enemy is after him." 4 "They set up kings without my consent, and choose princes without my approval. They insure their own destruction by making idols of gold and silver."

5 "I have rejected your calf, O Samaria! My anger burns against you! How long will you be incapable of innocence?" 6 "A workman made this calf. It is not God. It shall be broken in pieces." 7 "They sows the wind and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads. If it yielded anything, strangers would take it." 8 "Israel is swallowed up among the nations, like a vessel no one wants." 9 "For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey. Ephraim has hired lovers."

10 "Even though they hire allies from other nations, I will cause them to diminish because of the burden of a mighty king." 11 "Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, they have become altars for sinning."

12 "I have written the great things of My law for them, and these have been counted as alien." 13 "They sacrifice flesh to Me and eat it, but I do not delight in their sacrifice. I know their iniquity and will punish them for their sins. They will return to Egypt."

14 "Israel has built palaces and forgotten his Maker. Judah has multiplied fortified cities, but I will send fire on these to devour their palaces."

Hosea 9 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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Wandering Aimlessly Without God
1 "Do not rejoice, O Israel. Be not jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God. You are like the prostitute who looks for her wages at every threshing floor."

2 "The threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, nor will the new wine persist." 3 "They will not remain in the LORD's land. Ephraim will return to Egypt, and eat unclean food in Assyria." 4 "They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD. Their sacrifices will not be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners. All who eat of it will be unclean. They will eat of it, but it will not come into the house of the LORD." 5 "What will you do on an appointed festival to the LORD?"

6 "Even if they escape destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be overgrown with briers, and thorns shall be in their tents." 7 "Let Israel know that the days of punishment and retribution have come. Their prophets are fools. All this because your iniquity is so great."

8 "Ephraim was a watchman and prophet of my God. Yet he became a snare with hostility in the house of his God." 9 "They have gone deep in depravity as in the days of Gibeah. Their iniquity will be remembered and their sins punished."

10 "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. Their forefathers were the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baalpeor and devoted themselves to shame, becoming as detestable as that which they loved."

COMMENT: We become what we behold. That which we spend the most time on becomes our god.

11 "Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception." 12 "Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them!" 13 "I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out his children to the slayer." 14 "O LORD, give them wombs that do not carry and breasts that will not nurse."

COMMENT: This verse must have come to Jesus' mind as he turned to the women who cried for Him as He was headed for Golgotha.

15 "Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them. All their leaders are rebellious."

16 "Ephraim is stricken. Their root is dried up, and they will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones they have born." 17 "My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him. They will be wanderers among the nations."

COMMENT: Didn't Jesus predict this for the Jews?

Hosea 10 - RWB Paraphrase (15 V)
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Hosea Predicts Punishment
1 Israel is a luxuriant vine, producing fruit for himself. The more fruit he had, the more altars he made. The richer his land, the better he made the sacred pillars. 2 His heart is faithless, and now he must bear his guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. 3 Then they will say, "We have no king because we did not revere the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?" 4 They utter mere words and with empty oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in their fields.

5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear because of the calf of Bethaven. Its people mourn for it, and its priests cry out for it, because its glory has departed. 6 It will be carried to Assyria as tribute to King Jareb. Ephraim will be seized with shame and Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel. 7 Samaria and its king will float away like a twig on the surface of the water. 8 The high places of wickedness where Israel sinned will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will grow over their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" And to the hills, "Fall on us!"

COMMENT: This sound just like the words of Jesus prediction of the end when He returns to earth.

9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel. Will not the battle against the sons of iniquity overtake them where they stand in Gibeah? 10 When I please, I will punish them. Nations will gathered against them to put them in bonds for their sin twice over.

11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will place a harness on Ephraim. Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up his ground.

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness. Reap the fruit of unfailing love. Break up your unplowed ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and rains righteousness on you.

13 You have planted wickedness, and reaped evil. You have eaten the fruit of deception, because you have depended on your own strength and your many warriors. 14 The roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated, just as Shalman devastated Betharbel in the day of battle where the mother was dashed to the ground with her children. 15 This is what will be done to you at Bethel, because of your great wickedness. At the coming of dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.

Hosea 11 - RWB Paraphrase (12 V)
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God's Fatherly Love
1 "When Israel was a youth I loved him, and called him as My son out of Egypt." 2 "But the more I called Israel, the further they went from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to images." 3 "Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took him in My arms, but he did not recognize that it was I who healed him." 4 "I led him with cords of love. I was the one who lifted the yoke from his neck. And I bent down and fed him." 5 "They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall rule over them, because they have refused to return to Me." 6 "The sword will come against their cities, demolishing their gates and consume them as a result of their own choices."

7 "So My people are bent on turning away from Me. Though they are called to the One on high, no one exalts Him." 8 "How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within Me. All My compassion is aroused."

COMMENT: One of five cities in the vale of Siddim. Admah was destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah. Its exact location is not known.

Deuteronomy 29:23 "all the land is brimstone and salt, unproductive and without even grass, overthrown, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger."

9 "I will not execute My fierce anger to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man. I am the Holy One in your midst and I will not do this."

10 "They shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He does this, His sons shall come trembling from the west." 11 "They will come trembling like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. And I will settle them in their houses," declares the LORD.

12 "Ephraim has surrounded me with lies. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One."

Hosea 12 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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God Invites His People To Return
1 "Ephraim continually pursues the east wind on which he feeds. He multiplies lies and violence. Besides that, he makes a covenant with Assyria and carries oil to Egypt." 2 "The LORD also has a dispute with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his deeds."

COMMENT: Jesus said that we will be rewarded for our works. We are saved by faith in Jesus, but judged according to our works.

3 "In the womb he took his bother by his heel, while as a man he struggled with God." 4 "Yes, he wrestled with the Angel at Bethel, but he prevailed by weeping and seeking His favor." 5 "The Angel was the LORD God of hosts."

COMMENT:

Genesis 32:28 And the Man said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel. For you have wrestled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

6 "Therefore, return to your God. Observe kindness and justice. And wait for your God continually." 7 "He has no pleasure in a merchant with false balances." 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 "But I have been the LORD your God since you were in the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed feasts." 10 "I have given the prophets visions and had them teach you with parables."

11 "Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field."

COMMENT: In other word, just as stones in a plowed field are a curse, so are sacrifices made by the unrepentant.

12 "Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram where he worked for a wife by keeping sheep." 13 "And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt and kept them along the way." 14 "Ephraim has provoked the LORD to bitter anger, so He will bring reproach back on him."

Hosea 13 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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God Expresses Anger Against Israel
1 "When Ephraim spoke, men trembled, for he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died." 2 "Now they sin more and as their craftsmen make cleverly fashioned images of silver which they kiss as they offer sacrifices." 3 "Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, and like smoke escaping through a window." 4 "But I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God or Savior except Me." 5 "I cared for you in the wilderness, and in the land of drought."

6 "When I fed them, they were satisfied. When they were satisfied, they became proud and forgot me."

7 "So I will be like a lion to them. Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside." 8 "I will come at them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and tear open their chests. I will devour them like a lioness, or some other wild beast that would tear them."

9 "You are against me, O Israel, to your own hurt." 10 "I want to be your King. Where is there any other who will save you and all your cities? And where are your judges to whom you said, 'Give us a king and princes?'" 11 "I gave you a king, though it angered Me. Then I took him away in My wrath."

COMMENT:

1 Samuel 8:7 The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to what the people are saying to you, for they have not rejected you, but are rejecting Me from being their king."

1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his transgression against the LORD by not keeping His word and for asking council from a medium.

12 "Ephraim's iniquity is stored up. His sins are all recorded." 13 "Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom. When it is time to be born he is not willing."

14 "Shall I ransom them from the power of the grave? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? I have no compassion." 15 "Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind of the LORD will come from the wilderness. His fountain and his spring will dry up. His treasury will be plundered of every precious article." 16 "Samaria will be held quilty, for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their little ones will be dashed to pieces. Even their pregnant women will be ripped open."

Hosea 14 - RWB Paraphrase (9 V)
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Repentance Will Bring Restoration
1 "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!" 2 "Prepare what you will say as you return to the LORD. Ask Him to take away all your iniquity and graciously receive you, that you may offer your praise."

3 "Assyria cannot save us, nor will we ride upon horses to war. Never again will we call a god what we have made with our own hands, for in You the fatherless find mercy."

4 "I will heal them of their apostasy and love them freely, for I am no longer angry with them." 5 "I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like a lily, and take root like the cedars of Lebanon." 6 "His young shoots will grow so that his splendor will be like an olive tree. His fragrance will be like the cedars of Lebanon." 7 "Those living in his shadow will raise grain once more. They will blossom like the vine and be renown like the wine of Lebanon."

8 "O Ephraim, I do not want to see any more of your idols. I will answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen tree. Your fruitfulness comes from me."

9 "Whoever is wise will discern the truth of what I have said, and should never forget it. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous will follow them. But transgressors will stumble over them."

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14