Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹  For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.” ² 

They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come ¹  and bind themselves to the Lord in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ² 

and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

“You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

Can your heart endure, ¹  or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? ²  I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!

On that day you will be able to speak again; ¹  you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

When the Lord first spoke ¹  through ²  Hosea, he ³  said to him, ⁴  “Go marry ⁵  a prostitute ⁶  who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, ⁷  because the nation ⁸  continually commits spiritual prostitution ⁹  by turning away from the Lord.”

whenever I want to heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed. For they do what is wrong; thieves break into houses, and gangs rob people out in the streets.

O Israel, you have sinned since the time ¹  of Gibeah, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

Residents of Lachish, ¹  hitch the horses to the chariots! You ²  influenced Daughter Zion ³  to sin, ⁴  for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ⁵  to you!

“I will attack ¹  Judah and all who live in Jerusalem. ²  I will remove ³  from this place every trace of Baal worship, ⁴  as well as the very memory ⁵  of the pagan priests. ⁶ 

Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever ¹  receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

If ¹  he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If ²  he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like ³  a Gentile ⁴  or a tax collector. ⁵ 

When ¹  it was evening ²  the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay ³  starting with the last hired until the first.’

So ¹  the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, ²  you will begin to move to the least important ³  place.

Now ¹  the Word became flesh ²  and took up residence ³  among us. We ⁴  saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, ⁵  full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ¹  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ² 

But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ¹ 

But I have told you these things ¹  so that when their time ²  comes, you will remember that I told you about them. ³  “I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. ⁴ 

Some of you once lived this way. ¹  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ ²  and by the Spirit of our God.