Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Hosea 11
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
When I called them, they went from my face.
They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.
And I myself taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I drew them with human ties,
with the bands of love.
I was to them like one who lifted up a yoke on their jaws,
though I bent down to them and let them eat.
He will return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be his king,
because they refused to return.
The sword rages in his cities;
it consumes his false prophets
and devours because of their plans.
My people are bent on backsliding from me.
To the Most High they call,
he does not raise them at all.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart is disturbed within me;
all my compassions are aroused.
I will not execute my fierce anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
because I am God
and not a mortal,
the Holy One in your midst;
and I will not come in wrath.
They will go after Yahweh;
he roars like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling
from the sea.
They will tremble like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will let them return to their homes—
a declaration of Yahweh.
Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit;
and Judah is still wandering with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
Hosea 12
Ephraim herds the wind
and is pursuing the east wind all day long;
he multiplies deception and violence
and he makes a treaty with Assyria,
and oil is brought to Egypt.
Yahweh has a quarrel with Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he deceived his brother,
and in his manhood he struggled with God.
He struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he pleaded for his mercy.
He met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.
Yahweh the God of hosts,
Yahweh is his renowned name!
But you, you must return to your God;
keep love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;
he loves to oppress.
And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich,
I gained wealth for myself;
in all my toil they have not found guilt in me
that is sin.
But I am Yahweh your God
since the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
like the days of the appointed festival.
I spoke to the prophets;
I myself multiplied revelations
and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.
If in Gilead there is evil,
surely they will come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
also their altars will be like stone heaps
on furrows of the field.
Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he watched over sheep.
And by a prophet Yahweh brought
Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet
he was watched over.
Ephraim has caused bitter provocation,
and his Lord will hold him responsible for his crimes
and pay back to him his insults.
Hosea 13
When Ephraim spoke, there was terror;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
And now they sin again,
and they make for themselves a molten idol,
idols from their silver metal according to their understanding,
all of them the work of skilled craftsmen.
To these they say, "Sacrifice!"
People are kissing bull calves.
Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud,
and like the dew of early morning going away,
like chaff swirling from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
I am Yahweh your God
since the land of Egypt;
you know no god except me,
and no one saves besides me.
I fed you in the desert,
in the land of drought.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
And I will be like a lion to them;
I lie in wait beside the way, like a leopard.
I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring,
and I will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
like an animal of the field would mutilate them.
I will destroy you, O Israel;
who will help you?
Where now is your king that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said, "Give to
me a king and rulers?"
I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him in my wrath.
The sin of Ephraim is wrapped up;
his sin is concealed.
The labor pains of childbirth come for him;
he is an unwise son
because at the proper time, he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
Should I redeem them from the power of Sheol?
Should I deliver them from death?
Where are your plagues, O Death?
Where is your destruction, O Sheol?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
Although he may flourish among reeds,
the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh
rising from the desert;
his fountain will dry up,
his spring will be parched.
It will plunder his treasury,
every object of desire.
Samaria will be guilty,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they will fall by the sword,
their children will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Matthew 19
And it happened that when Jesus had finished these statements, he went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. And Pharisees came up to him in order to test him, and asked if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. And he answered and said, "Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Why then did Moses command us to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?" He said to them, "Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this. Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."
The disciples said to him, "If this is the case of a man with his wife, it would be better not to marry!" But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born as such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it."
Then children were brought to him so that he could lay his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Allow the children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and traveled on from there.
And behold, someone came up to him and said, "Teacher, what good thing must I do so that I will have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why are you asking me about what is good? There is one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments!" He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have observed. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me." But when the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich person will enter into the kingdom of heaven! And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person into the kingdom of God." So when the disciples heard this, they were extremely amazed, saying, "Then who can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Then Peter answered and said to him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that in the renewal of the world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me—you also will 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 on account of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.