December 6th Readings

4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people [are] as they that strive with the priest.

4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.

4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into shame.

4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof [is] good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people [that] doth not understand shall fall.

4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.

4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

4:17 Ephraim [is] joined to idols: let him alone.

4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers [with] shame do love, Give ye.

4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment [is] toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

5:2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I [have been] a rebuker of them all.

5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, [and] Israel is defiled.

5:4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms [is] in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.

5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

5:6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find [him]; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

5:9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

5:11 Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

5:12 Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

5:14 For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him].

5:15 I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

1:1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

1:2 For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

1:3 Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed:

1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

1:12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not [write] with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

1:13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

125:1 A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD [shall be] as mount Zion, [which] cannot be removed, [but] abideth for ever.

125:2 [As] the mountains [are] round about Jerusalem, so the LORD [is] round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

125:3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

125:4 Do good, O LORD, unto [those that be] good, and to [them that are] upright in their hearts.

125:5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: [but] peace [shall be] upon Israel.

29:9 [If] a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, [there is] no rest.

29:10 The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.

29:11 A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise [man] keepeth it in till afterwards.