The Berean Pursuit
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.
But the more I called Israel,
the farther they departed from Me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and burned incense to carved images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them in My arms,
but they never realized
that it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
with ropes of love;
I lifted the yoke from their necks
and bent down to feed them.
Will they not return to the land of Egypt
and be ruled by Assyria
because they refused to repent?
A sword will flash through their cities;
it will destroy the bars of their gates
and consume them in their own plans.
My people are bent on turning from Me.
Though they call to the Most High,
He will by no means exalt them.
How could I give you up, O Ephraim?
How could I surrender you, O Israel?
How could I make you like Admah?
How could I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart is turned within Me;
My compassion is stirred!
I will not execute the full fury of My anger;
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.
For I am God and not man-
the Holy One among you-
and I will not come in wrath.
They will walk after the LORD;
He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria.
Then I will settle them in their homes,
declares the LORD.
Ephraim surrounds Me with lies,
the house of Israel with deceit;
but Judah still walks with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
Ephraim chases the wind
and pursues the east wind all day long;
he multiplies lies and violence;
he makes a covenant with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt.
The LORD also brings a charge against Judah.
He will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he grasped his brother's heel,
and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought His favor;
he found Him at Bethel
and spoke with Him there -
the LORD is the God of Hosts-
the LORD is His name of renown.
But you must return to your God,
maintaining love and justice,
and always waiting on your God.
A merchant loves to defraud
with dishonest scales in his hands.
And Ephraim boasts: "How rich I have become!
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my labors, they can find in me
no iniquity that is sinful."
But I am the LORD your God
ever since the land of Egypt.
I will again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
I spoke through the prophets
and multiplied their visions;
I gave parables through the prophets.
Is there iniquity in Gilead?
They will surely come to nothing.
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones
in the furrows of the field.
Jacob fled to the land of Aram
and Israel worked for a wife-
for a wife he tended sheep.
But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet he was preserved.
Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him
and repay him for his contempt.
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal,
and he died.
Now they sin more and more
and make for themselves cast images,
idols skillfully made from their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
People say of them,
"They offer human sacrifice
and kiss the calves!"
Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,
like smoke through an open window.
Yet I am the LORD your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,
for there is no Savior besides Me.
I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.
When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;
when they were satisfied,
their hearts became proud,
and as a result they forgot Me.
So like a lion I will pounce on them;
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them,
and I will tear open their chests.
There I will devour them like a lion,
like a wild beast would tear them apart.
You are destroyed, O Israel,
because you are against Me-
against your helper.
Where is your king now
to save you in all your cities,
and the rulers to whom you said,
"Give me a king and princes"?
So in My anger I gave you a king,
and in My wrath I took him away.
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
his sin is stored up.
Labor pains come upon him,
but he is an unwise son.
When the time arrives,
he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I will redeem them from Death.
Where, O Death, are your plagues?
Where, O Sheol, is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
Although he flourishes among his brothers,
an east wind will come-
a wind from the LORD
rising up from the desert.
His fountain will fail,
and his spring will run dry.
The wind will plunder his treasury
of every precious article.
Samaria will bear her guilt
because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.
Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"
Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
"Why then," they asked, "did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning. Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery."
His disciples said to Him, "If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry."
"Not everyone can accept this word," He replied, "but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."
Then the little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. And the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.
Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?"
"Why do you ask Me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man asked.
Jesus answered, "?'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," said the young man. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
"Look," Peter replied, "we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.