Hosea 10 (Listen)

1   Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
  The more his fruit increased,
    the more altars he built;
  as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
2   Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
  The LORD will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.
3   For now they will say:
    “We have no king,
  for we do not fear the LORD;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
4   They utter mere words;
    with empty oaths they make covenants;
  so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    in the furrows of the field.
5   The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for the calf of Beth-aven.
  Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and over its glory—
    for it has departed from them.
6   The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to the great king.
  Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.
7   Samaria’s king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
8   The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
  Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
  and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9   From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?
10   When I please, I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for their double iniquity.
11   Ephraim was a trained calf
    that loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
  but I will put Ephraim to the yoke;
    Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
12   Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    break up your fallow ground,
  for it is the time to seek the LORD,
    that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
13   You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
  Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
14   therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
  as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15   Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
  At dawn the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

(ESV)

Proverbs 6 (Listen)

Practical Warnings

1   My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    have given your pledge for a stranger,
2   if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
3   then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
4   Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
5   save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6   Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
7   Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
8   she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
9   How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10   A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11   and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.
12   A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with crooked speech,
13   winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
    points with his finger,
14   with perverted heart devises evil,
    continually sowing discord;
15   therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16   There are six things that the LORD hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
17   haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
18   a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
19   a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20   My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21   Bind them on your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.
22   When you walk, they will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23   For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24   to preserve you from the evil woman,
    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25   Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26   for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
    but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
27   Can a man carry fire next to his chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
28   Or can one walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
29   So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
    none who touches her will go unpunished.
30   People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31   but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
32   He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
33   He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34   For jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35   He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

(ESV)

Psalm 41 (Listen)

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1   Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
    In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
2   the LORD protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3   The LORD sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.
4   As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
5   My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6   And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7   All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.
8   They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9   Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10   But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11   By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12   But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever.
13   Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
      Amen and Amen.

(ESV)