God

And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no god but me, and besides me there is no saviour.

I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.

Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way;

I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.

It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help.

Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.

Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.

Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.

I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree; from me is thy fruit found.

Who is wise, that he may understand these things? prudent, that he may know them? for the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but transgressors shall fall therein.

The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah’s ministers, mourn.

Gird yourselveswith sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.