11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;    its priests teach for a price;    its prophets practice divination for money;yet they lean on the Lord and say,    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?    No disaster shall come upon us.”Micah 3:11 “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”That’s a bold claim. “God is on our side,” these leaders say. Now, Scripture shows that Go...  Read More

14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;    I shall redeem them from Death.O Death, where are your plagues?    O Sheol, where is your sting?    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.Hosea 6:1-11 This passage is both full of judgment and hope. Hosea uses the Exodus story to give background to God and Israel’s relationship and why they should expect both judgment and future restoration. To briefl...  Read More

The Lord's Love for Israel1 When Israel was a child, I loved him,    and out of Egypt I called my son.2 The more they were called,    the more they went away;they kept sacrificing to the Baals    and burning offerings to idols.3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;    I took them up by their arms,    but they did not know that I healed them.4 I led them with cords of kindness,    with the band...  Read More

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant1 “Come, let us return to the Lord;    for he has torn us, that he may heal us;    he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.2 After two days he will revive us;    on the third day he will raise us up,    that we may live before him.3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;    his going out is sure as the dawn;he will come to us as the showers,    as the ...  Read More

Hosea’s Wife and Children2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house o...  Read More

The Restoration of Israel11 “In that day I will raise up    the booth of David that is fallenand repair its breaches,    and raise up its ruins    and rebuild it as in the days of old,12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom    and all the nations who are called by my name,”    declares the Lord who does this.Amos 9:11-12 Today, we close out our look at the Book of Amos by examining the last t...  Read More

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:“Seek me and live;5 but do not seek Bethel,and do not enter into Gilgal    or cross over to Beersheba;for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,    and Bethel shall come to nothing.”6 Seek the Lord and live,    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,    and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,7 O you who turn justice to wormwood[a]  ...  Read More

Judgment on Israel6 Thus says the Lord:“For three transgressions of Israel,    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,because they sell the righteous for silver,    and the needy for a pair of sandals—7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth    and turn aside the way of the afflicted;a man and his father go in to the same girl,    so that my holy name is profaned...  Read More

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is bet...  Read More

3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:3 Jonah's Prayer 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,     and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried,     and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep,     into the heart of the seas,     and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves     passed over me... 6 To the roots of the mountains I went down,     to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. Yet you brought up my life from the pit,     O Lord my God... 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving     will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.     Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 2:1-3, 6, 9  Read More