The Time of the End

1“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”

5Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river. 6And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” 7I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. 8As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. 11From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”

The Book of

HOSEA

Hosea’s Wife and Children

1The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

6Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.”

8When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.”

10Yet the number of the sons of Israel

Will be like the sand of the sea,

Which cannot be measured or numbered;

And in the place

Where it is said to them,

“You are not My people,”

It will be said to them,

“You are the sons of the living God.”

11And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together,

And they will appoint for themselves one leader,

And they will go up from the land,

For great will be the day of Jezreel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

1Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”

2“Contend with your mother, contend,

For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;

And let her put away her harlotry from her face

And her adultery from between her breasts,

3Or I will strip her naked

And expose her as on the day when she was born.

I will also make her like a wilderness,

Make her like desert land

And slay her with thirst.

4Also, I will have no compassion on her children,

Because they are children of harlotry.

5For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

Who give me my bread and my water,

My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,

And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

7She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;

And she will seek them, but will not find them.

Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,

For it was better for me then than now!’

8“For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,

And lavished on her silver and gold,

Which they used for Baal.

9Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time

And My new wine in its season.

I will also take away My wool and My flax

Given to cover her nakedness.

10And then I will uncover her lewdness

In the sight of her lovers,

And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

11I will also put an end to all her gaiety,

Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths

And all her festal assemblies.

12I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

Of which she said, ‘These are my wages

Which my lovers have given me.’

And I will make them a forest,

And the beasts of the field will devour them.

13I will punish her for the days of the Baals

When she used to offer sacrifices to them

And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,

And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

Bring her into the wilderness

And speak kindly to her.

15Then I will give her her vineyards from there,

And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord,

“That you will call Me Ishi

And will no longer call Me Baali.

17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,

So that they will be mentioned by their names no more.

18In that day I will also make a covenant for them

With the beasts of the field,

The birds of the sky

And the creeping things of the ground.

And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,

And will make them lie down in safety.

19I will betroth you to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,

In lovingkindness and in compassion,

20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.

Then you will know the Lord.

21“It will come about in that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord.

“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

22And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,

And they will respond to Jezreel.

23I will sow her for Myself in the land.

I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,

And I will say to those who were not My people,

‘You are My people!’

And they will say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

1Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” 2So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. 3Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.” 4For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. 5Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

God’s Controversy with Israel

1Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,

For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is no faithfulness or kindness

Or knowledge of God in the land.

2There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.

They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3Therefore the land mourns,

And everyone who lives in it languishes

Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,

And also the fish of the sea disappear.

4Yet let no one find fault, and let none offer reproof;

For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

5So you will stumble by day,

And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;

And I will destroy your mother.

6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being My priest.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;

I will change their glory into shame.

8They feed on the sin of My people

And direct their desire toward their iniquity.

9And it will be, like people, like priest;

So I will punish them for their ways

And repay them for their deeds.

10They will eat, but not have enough;

They will play the harlot, but not increase,

Because they have stopped giving heed to the Lord.

11Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding.

12My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;

For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,

And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.

13They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains

And burn incense on the hills,

Under oak, poplar and terebinth,

Because their shade is pleasant.

Therefore your daughters play the harlot

And your brides commit adultery.

14I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot

Or your brides when they commit adultery,

For the men themselves go apart with harlots

And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes;

So the people without understanding are ruined.

15Though you, Israel, play the harlot,

Do not let Judah become guilty;

Also do not go to Gilgal,

Or go up to Beth-aven

And take the oath:

“As the Lord lives!”

16Since Israel is stubborn

Like a stubborn heifer,

Can the Lord now pasture them

Like a lamb in a large field?

17Ephraim is joined to idols;

Let him alone.

18Their liquor gone,

They play the harlot continually;

Their rulers dearly love shame.

19The wind wraps them in its wings,

And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.