Return to the Lord, Cast Off Your Idols

1. Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2. Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him. 3. In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. 4. Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, 5. even Yahweh, the God of Armies; Yahweh is his name of renown! 6. Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God. 7. A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. 8. Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.” 9. “But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10. I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables. 11. If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field. 12. Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds. 13. By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. 14. Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt. 1. When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died. 2. Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.’ 3. Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney. 4. “Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior. 5. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. 6. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me. 7. Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path. 8. I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them. 9. You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help. 10. Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’ 11. I have given you a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. 12. The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. His sin is stored up. 13. The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb. 14. I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes. 15. Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure. 16. Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.” 1. Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. 2. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls. 3. Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’ for in you the fatherless finds mercy.” 4. “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him. 5. I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. 6. His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7. Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8. Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.” 9. Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.

1. He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them. 2. Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3. He answered, “What did Moses command you?” 4. They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.” 5. But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. 6. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. 7. For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, 8. and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 10. In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter. 11. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her. 12. If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery.” 13. They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them. 14. But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. 15. Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.” 16. He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them. 17. As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18. Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. 19. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’” 20. He said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.” 21. Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.” 22. But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions. 23. Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!” 24. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! 25. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” 26. They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27. Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.” 28. Peter began to tell him, “Behold, we have left all, and have followed you.” 29. Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, 30. but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life. 31. But many who are first will be last; and the last first.” 32. They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. 33. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. 34. They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” 35. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.” 36. He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37. They said to him, “Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory.” 38. But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39. They said to him, “We are able.” Jesus said to them, “You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 40. but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared.” 41. When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant towards James and John. 42. Jesus summoned them, and said to them, “You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. 44. Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all. 45. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 46. They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 48. Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!” 49. Jesus stood still, and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!” 50. He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.” 52. Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus on the way. 1. When they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 2. and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied, on which no one has sat. Untie him, and bring him. 3. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.” 4. They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street, and they untied him. 5. Some of those who stood there asked them, “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?” 6. They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7. They brought the young donkey to Jesus, and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. 8. Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and spreading them on the road. 9. Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 11. Jesus entered into the temple in Jerusalem. When he had looked around at everything, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 12. The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13. Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it. 15. They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables, and the seats of those who sold the doves. 16. He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. 17. He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!” 18. The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 19. When evening came, he went out of the city. 20. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. 21. Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.” 22. Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. 24. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. 25. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. 26. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.” 27. They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him, 28. and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 29. Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30. The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” 31. They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32. If we should say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. 33. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 1. He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2. When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5. Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6. Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7. But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8. They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10. Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. 11. This was from the Lord, it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12. They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away. 13. They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 14. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15. Shall we give, or shall we not give?” But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” 16. They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17. Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him. 18. There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying, 19. “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 20. There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. 21. The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; 22. and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.” 24. Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? 25. For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26. But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.” 28. One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?” 29. Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: 30. you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31. The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32. The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, 33. and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34. When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.” No one dared ask him any question after that. 35. Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36. For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’ 37. Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly. 38. In his teaching he said to them, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, 39. and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts: 40. those who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” 41. Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. 42. A poor widow came, and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin. 43. He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, 44. for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”

1. Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. 2. Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. 3. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy! 4. For Yahweh’s word is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. 5. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh. 6. By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth. 7. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8. Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm. 10. Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. 11. The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. 13. Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. 14. From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15. he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works. 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17. A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. 18. Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness; 19. to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. 20. Our soul has waited for Yahweh. He is our help and our shield. 21. For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22. Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you.