Hos. 8

8:1 Sound the alarm!

An eagle looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me

and have rebelled against my law.

2Israel cries out to me,

“My God, we acknowledge you!”

3But Israel has rejected what is morally good;

so an enemy will pursue him.

4They enthroned kings without my consent.

They appointed princes without my approval.

They made idols out of their silver and gold,

but they will be destroyed!

5O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol.

My anger burns against them!

They will not survive much longer without being punished,

even though they are Israelites!

6That idol was made by a workman—it is not God!

The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.

7They sow the wind,

and so they will reap the whirlwind!

The stalk does not have any standing grain;

it will not produce any flour.

Even if it were to yield grain,

foreigners would swallow it all up.

8Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;

they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.

9They have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey that wanders off.

Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.

10Even though they have hired lovers among the nations,

I will soon gather them together for judgment.

Then they will begin to waste away

under the oppression of a mighty king.

11Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,

these have become altars for sinning.

12I spelled out my law for him in great detail,

but they regard it as something totally unknown to them.

13They offer up sacrificial gifts to me

and eat the meat,

but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices.

Soon he will remember their wrongdoing;

he will punish their sins,

and they will return to Egypt.

14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces,

and Judah has built many fortified cities.

But I will send fire on their cities;

it will consume their royal citadels.

Ps. 73

73:1 A psalm by Asaph.

Certainly God is good to Israel,

and to those whose motives are pure.

2But as for me, my feet almost slipped;

my feet almost slid out from under me.

3For I envied those who are proud,

as I observed the prosperity of the wicked.

4For they suffer no pain;

their bodies are strong and well fed.

5They are immune to the trouble common to men;

they do not suffer as other men do.

6Arrogance is their necklace,

and violence covers them like clothing.

7Their prosperity causes them to do wrong;

their thoughts are sinful.

8They mock and say evil things;

they proudly threaten violence.

9They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth.

10Therefore they have more than enough food to eat

and even suck up the water of the sea.

11They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the Most High aware of what goes on?”

12Take a good look. This is what the wicked are like,

those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.

13I concluded, “Surely in vain I have kept my motives pure

and maintained a pure lifestyle.

14I suffer all day long

and am punished every morning.”

15If I had publicized these thoughts,

I would have betrayed your people.

16When I tried to make sense of this,

it was troubling to me.

17Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple

and understood the destiny of the wicked.

18Surely you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down to ruin.

19How desolate they become in a mere moment.

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete.

20They are like a dream after one wakes up.

O Lord, when you awake you will despise them.

21Yes, my spirit was bitter,

and my insides felt sharp pain.

22I was ignorant and lacked insight;

I was as senseless as an animal before you.

23But I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24You guide me by your wise advice,

and then you will lead me to a position of honor.

25Whom do I have in heaven but you?

On earth there is no one I desire but you.

26My flesh and my heart may grow weak,

but God always protects my heart and gives me stability.

27Yes, look! Those far from you die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28But as for me, God’s presence is all I need.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,

as I declare all the things you have done.

Rom. 7:1–6

7:1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives? 2For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. 3So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.