The Berean Pursuit
When I heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed,
as well as the crimes of Samaria.
For they practice deceit and thieves break in;
bandits raid in the streets.
But they fail to consider in their hearts
that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds are all around them;
they are before My face.
They delight the king with their evil,
and the princes with their lies.
They are all adulterers,
like an oven heated by a baker
who needs not stoke the fire
from the kneading to the rising of the dough.
The princes are inflamed with wine
on the day of our king;
so he joins hands
with those who mock him.
For they prepare their heart like an oven
while they lie in wait;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall;
not one of them calls upon Me.
Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is an unturned cake.
Foreigners consume his strength,
but he does not notice.
Even his hair is streaked with gray,
but he does not know.
Israel's arrogance testifies against them,
yet they do not return to the LORD their God;
despite all this, they do not seek Him.
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove-
calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
As they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air.
I will chastise them
when I hear them flocking together.
Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me!
Though I would redeem them,
they speak lies against Me.
They do not cry out to Me from their hearts
when they wail upon their beds.
They slash themselves for grain and new wine,
but turn away from Me.
Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
they plot evil against Me.
They turn, but not to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
for the cursing of their tongue;
for this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
Put the ram's horn to your lips!
An eagle looms over the house of the LORD,
because the people have transgressed My covenant
and rebelled against My law.
Israel cries out to Me,
"O our God, we know You!"
But Israel has rejected good;
an enemy will pursue him.
They set up kings, but not by Me.
They make princes, but without My approval.
With their silver and gold they make themselves idols,
to their own destruction.
He has rejected your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be
incapable of innocence?
For this thing is from Israel-
a craftsman made it, and it is not God.
It will be broken to pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
There is no standing grain;
what sprouts fails to yield flour.
Even if it should produce,
the foreigners would swallow it up.
Israel is swallowed up!
Now they are among the nations
like a worthless vessel.
For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey on its own.
Ephraim has hired lovers.
Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will now round them up,
and they will begin to diminish
under the oppression of the king of princes.
Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin,
they became his altars for sinning.
Though I wrote for them the great things of My law,
they regarded them as something strange.
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me,
and though they eat the meat,
the LORD does not accept them.
Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
Judah has multiplied its fortified cities.
But I will send fire upon their cities,
and it will consume their citadels.
Do not rejoice, O Israel,
with exultation like the nations,
for you have played the harlot against your God;
you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them,
and the new wine will fail them.
They will not remain
in the land of the LORD;
Ephraim will return to Egypt
and eat unclean food in Assyria.
They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD,
and their sacrifices will not please Him,
but will be to them like the bread of mourners;
all who eat will be defiled.
For their bread will be for themselves;
it will not enter the house of the LORD.
What will you do on the appointed day,
on the day of the LORD's feast?
For even if they flee destruction,
Egypt will gather them
and Memphis will bury them.
Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles,
and thorns will overrun their tents.
The days of punishment have come;
the days of retribution have arrived-
let Israel know it.
The prophet is called a fool,
and the inspired man insane,
because of the greatness
of your iniquity and hostility.
The prophet is Ephraim's watchman,
along with my God,
yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths.
Hostility is in the house of his God!
They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah;
He will remember their guilt;
He will punish their sins.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.
I saw your fathers as the firstfruits
of the fig tree in its first season.
But they went to Baal-peor,
and consecrated themselves to Shame;
so they became as detestable
as the thing they loved.
Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird,
with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
Even if they raise their children,
I will bereave them of each one.
Yes, woe be to them
when I turn away from them!
I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
planted in a meadow.
But Ephraim will bring out
his children for slaughter.
Give them, O LORD-
what will You give?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that dry up!
All their evil appears at Gilgal,
for there I hated them.
I will drive them from My house
for the wickedness of their deeds.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.
Ephraim is struck down;
their root is withered;
they cannot bear fruit.
Even if they bear children,
I will slay the darlings of their wombs.
My God will reject them
because they have not obeyed Him;
and they shall be wanderers
among the nations.
Israel was a luxuriant vine,
yielding fruit for himself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars.
The better his land produced,
the better he made the sacred pillars.
Their hearts are devious;
now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will break down their altars
and demolish their sacred pillars.
Surely now they will say,
"We have no king,
for we do not revere the LORD.
What can a king do for us?"
They speak mere words;
with false oaths they make covenants.
So judgment springs up
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
The people of Samaria will fear
for the calf of Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn
with its idolatrous priests-
those who rejoiced in its glory-
for it has been taken from them into exile.
Yes, it will be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.
Ephraim will be seized with shame;
Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
Samaria will be carried off with her king
like a twig on the surface of the water.
The high places of Aven will be destroyed-
it is the sin of Israel;
thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!"
and to the hills, "Fall on us!"
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel,
and there you have remained.
Did not the battle in Gibeah
overtake the sons of iniquity?
I will chasten them when I please;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bondage
for their double transgression.
Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh;
but I will place a yoke on her fair neck.
I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow,
and Jacob will break the hard ground.
Sow for yourselves righteousness
and reap the fruit of loving devotion;
break up your unplowed ground.
For it is time to seek the LORD
until He comes and sends righteousness
upon you like rain.
You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your mighty men,
the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be demolished
as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel
in the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to pieces
along with their children.
Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day dawns,
the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. "Truly I tell you," He said, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them."
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
Then the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Have patience with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'
His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe me!'
So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.
When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.
Then the master summoned him and declared, 'You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.
That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."