Today’s Reading :  Hosea  10 - 14  and  Matthew 23   (KJV)   

 

 

Hosea  10

Hos 10:1  Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Hos 10:2  Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

Hos 10:3  For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

Hos 10:4  They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

Hos 10:5  The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

Hos 10:6  It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

Hos 10:7  As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.

Hos 10:8  The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

Hos 10:9  O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

Hos 10:10  It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

Hos 10:11  And Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Hos 10:13  Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

Hos 10:14  Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

Hos 10:15  So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.

 

Hosea  11

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

Hos 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

Hos 11:8  How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

Hos 11:9  I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

Hos 11:10  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

Hos 11:11  They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.

Hos 11:12  Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

 

Hosea  12

Hos 12:1  Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

Hos 12:2  The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

Hos 12:3  He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:

Hos 12:4  Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us;

Hos 12:5  Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.

Hos 12:6  Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

Hos 12:7  He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

Hos 12:8  And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

Hos 12:9  And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.

Hos 12:10  I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

Hos 12:11  Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

Hos 12:12  And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

Hos 12:13  And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

Hos 12:14  Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

 

Hosea  13

Hos 13:1  When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

Hos 13:2  And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Hos 13:3  Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

Hos 13:4  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

Hos 13:5  I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

Hos 13:6  According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.

Hos 13:7  Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:

Hos 13:8  I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

Hos 13:9  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

Hos 13:10  I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

Hos 13:11  I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.

Hos 13:12  The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.

Hos 13:13  The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.

Hos 13:14  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Hos 13:15  Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

Hos 13:16  Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

 

Hosea  14

Hos 14:1  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Hos 14:2  Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Hos 14:3  Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

Hos 14:4  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Hos 14:5  I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Hos 14:6  His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

Hos 14:7  They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Hos 14:8  Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

Hos 14:9  Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

 

Matthew  23

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Mat 23:5  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

Mat 23:6  And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Mat 23:7  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Mat 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

Mat 23:9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Mat 23:10  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

Mat 23:11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Mat 23:14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Mat 23:16  Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

Mat 23:17  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

Mat 23:18  And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

Mat 23:19  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift

Mat 23:20  Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

Mat 23:21  And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

Mat 23:22  And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Mat 23:24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Mat 23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

Mat 23:30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Mat 23:31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

Mat 23:32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Mat 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.