A 15 year old girl holds hands with her 1 year old son. People call her a slut, no one knows she was raped at 13. People call another Guy fat. No one knows he has a serious disease causing him to be overweight . People call an old man ugly. No one knew he had a serious injury to his face while fighting for our country in the war. Two Christian "ladies" stare at the dirty womans clothes across the pew from them in church. They think she should have taken a bath and they turn their noses up as they say "she smells". They don't realize she has no home, is living in her car, destitute and alone she came to be washed clean of her sins by Christ. Christ looks down in his church and the stinch is stiffling. He shakes his head at the two of them.
Then His eyes roam the streets to and fro in search of LOVE. He sees this young girl struggling to understand her past, remembering being molested, beaten and abused by her mother, ran away from home, burglarized in her mid twenties becoming fearful of the world. Looking for love she turns to the arms of others only to to find possession and not love. She falls farther into sin looking for love and trying to earn a living too. She takes up prostitution. Christians condemn her shes a sinful woman. They have no idea she has spent her childhood be "used" by men and not getting paid for it...and she is alone and has bills to pay and a child to feed.
Then theres her sister who without the love of her mother turned to seek love in the arms of women...sinful as it is...Christians condemn her to hell she's a homosexual. They have no idea this one had never had the nurturing touch of a mother...Then one day she falls to her knees praying for deliverance from this life of shame, and wants to help others.
She prays for this one and that one. She forgives this one and that one. She asks that as much as it is possible to forgive them and lay the blame on her...if that will bring justice. Unbeknown to her, he sees a heart that he can sit in.She is His choice...He will walk with His people but they will not see Him for they have not read the book and sought HIM. But He will walk amongst His people and comfort them. When Justice has been satisfied....He will raise them from the dead (spiritually) just as God raised Him from the dead when justice had been satisfied and SIN's "price had been paid". What if God did just that? Could be truer than you care to realize....
Repost this if your against bullying and stereotyping, judgement and condemnation!
This was a post which was posted which lead to a very good dialogue which has now been carried forward in this blog post for your edification!
QUESTIONS DEJURE: MATURE TOPIC (PLEASE DON"T LET YOUR KIDS READ THIS QUESTION)
Question 1: Please only mature responses. My question revolves around 2 John 1:11. "For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." Ok my question is as follows. I am guilty in my life of watching Lesbian pornography in my life, so according to this verse am I a partaker of this the homosexual act? If so, should I offer myself to a public execution? If I am guilty then does this mean GOD cannot forgive me in the flesh? Thanks I'm looking forward to your responses.
Question 2:Have a question: What are 'good works'? I know that Faith without Works is dead....so what does this mean? What sort of 'works' are we to do?
LORD of Heaven AND Earth Creator of the Universe, HE who formed us in His likeness, God of Jacob, lover of my Soul, I ask Your Holy Spirit be poured out on these two questions, and "join" us to you "in Christ", and help us "shake" off condemnation that we may stand against all that has come upon us to put us in "bondage" be it in The FLESH (via condemnation and misunderstanding), or in this LAND(via Satans New World Order) you promised to US oh LORD a place of refuge and a dwelling in which YOU would inhabit but evil has come in unto The Children and has made it a DEN OF THIEVES sitting in The White House Lording over us with keys in hand to our shackles. Father, I earnestly pray MERCY and deliverance and ask YOU to BEAR UP from us these evil spirits in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Good Morning. I came into this thread very late in the day it seems. I want to say one thing here to sum up hopefully this particular "thread" (on partakers) as well as the new one above started by Sarah (on good works).
Our beloved brother Pastor Murray ("fellow-servant" and single REPRESENTATIVE of The Lord) in Christ (plural collective REPRESENTATIVES) has often said "show me your FAITH, and I'll SEE your "works".
PY mentioning above that having never knew that Saul was Paul astounds me as for myself this was one of the most astonishing places in the word that caught me right in the ole gourd head.
I have often said never to underestimate the power of a "Christ-like Spirit bearing witness" even in the midst of an angry mob...Recalling Stephen in his Christ-like "manner" being stoned to death was actually putting goads into the stony heart of Saul who later became Paul.
The "works" of Stephen in "death" went on to bring "to the birth" the New Testament via an onlooker named Saul. A thing to ponder is in getting all caught up in the "sins" of the flesh, and things done in "confusion" and "ignorance" is a SHAME and we miss the mark of THE ABSOLUTE POWER of MERCY, losing FOCUS on what EXACTLY is being WARNED of in "partaking and DEEDS" (question #1) and in so through this study may in turn provide the answer to question #2. OPEN EYES AND EARS LORD...for thy kingdoms sake. Amen.
I want to go back to this story and pray "Spirit reveal to YOU" (experience Him) all the INTENT of the message and may "it" CAUSE US ALL to FOCUS on the things at hand which move us along in a stronger Faith. Let us RETURN TO THE LORD "in higher thinking" from the HEART as ALL these things HE brought upon us for our good...
NOW.... a reminder course on Paul, The Apostle From "Crazed Destoyer of Christians" TO "Committed Christian Leader" asking "Why did Paul Change?" That is the QUESTION to be asking? For its ALL ABOUT THE CHANGE, not "the sin"....ITS ALL ABOUT "MERCY", not "condemenation". Shake OFF THE THINGS "of the world"...we have work to do little children.
Remember Saul of Tarsus hated Christians. He made it his goal to capture, then bring Christians to public trial and execution. Saul was present when the first Christian martyr (named Stephen) was killed by an angry mob.
"... they all rushed at him (Stephen), dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. . . . And Saul was there, giving approval to his death" (Acts 7.57 to 8:1).
After Stephen was martyred, Saul went door to door in Jerusalem finding people who believed that Jesus is the Messiah.
"Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison" (Acts 8:3).
After putting these people in prison, Saul learned about their Christian friends in Damascus by somehow getting letters from the prisoners.
"I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished" (Acts 22:4-5).
But something happened to Saul as he traveled to Damascus in search of Christians. According to Saul of Tarsus, God appeared to him in an "UNEXPECTED" way (this is key)...Remember my,Teresa speaking here, recent letter to YOU on "What if God walked amongst us today" if not go back and read it from my wall and let it speak to YOU).
"Pauls" UNEXPECTED way continued....
"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, `Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' " `Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "`I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. " `What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. " `Get up,' the Lord said, `and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me" (Acts 22:6-11).
Saul of Tarsus "BELIEVED THAT HE WAS SERVING GOD" by finding Christians, throwing them into prison, and even executing them when possible. But Saul was WRONG.(just are so many Christians today who condemn one another and judge them putting them in SPIRITUAL prison as I so desperately attempted to show in my letter to you What is GOD walked amongst us today?) Perhaps even more intriguing, Saul was "highly educated for his era" in Jewish beliefs "about God".
". . . Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you . . . " (Acts 22:3).
How could such a highly educated man be completely wrong?
(HOW CAN WE "TODAY" BE SO WRONG ALSO?)
To begin to answer this question, it is important to note a concentration on Gabriel's prophetic words to Daniel about the Messiah. We have learned that the Messiah HAD to appear before Jerusalem, and the temple HAS to be destroyed.
(These ARE two SEPERATE "EVENTS", the FIRST one fulfilled already, and and SECOND one YET TO HAPPEN- but WILL when The False CHRIST sits in Jerualem PLAYACTING Messiah).
And we have learned that Gabriel "foretold" that the Messiah would be killed as a "sacrificial offering" (which occurred to HE Jesus). Why didn't the majority of Jewish people living at Jesus' time understand these prophetic ideas?
(Closely examining John 8:44 Jesus anwers that with HIS words....THE "DEEDS" of "your father" you DO=(verb: ACT). What DEED were they (collectively) PARTAKING in? Bear this in your "mind" as you continue with this study.
The most intriguing question about Messiah must be answered based on Gabriel's words about the Messiah being killed."How is it possible for a human being to go to Jerusalem "before its destruction perform a death wish to prove himself as Messiah (Daniel 9:26: Messiah to be killed), and remain a successful Messiah?"
Again this is "second EVENT is KEY" as it confounds many Christians and Jews today as they "erroneously" THINK that Jerusalem was Destroyed in 70CE by Titus and do not perceive the Evil DEED of Anti-Messiah sitting in Jerualem on "the MORROW" and THEN shall Jerusalem be destroyed as Jesus Christ taught when HE walked amongst them then in FLESH not via the "Spirit TODAY in HER).
Daniel's 70-weeks infers that a "supernatural event" has to take place for the Messiah "to prove himself a success". Any normal person that would submit to a "death wish" will undoubtedly fail. Very simply, a normal person "posing as the Messiah"(ie: The ANTI-CHRIST, Satan very soon) will remain a "dead person".
No, Saul of Tarsus met "this resurrected Messiah" on the road to Damascus. The EVENT is described as a "bright-light" that blinded Saul of Tarsus along with "a voice" giving spiritual instructions. Saul of Tarsus "changed" his name later and became widely known as the Apostle Paul. By the time the Apostle Paul was martyred for HIS FAITH "in Jesus as Messiah" about 32 years later, he had written about 25% of the New Testament. Paul's "written words" are the TESTIMONY of a "MAN" that violently persecuted the early Christians, then "BECAME a Christian" due to a "supernatural SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE".
Again I EMPHATICALLY write , its ALL ABOUT THE CHANGE, and the "EXPERIENCE". There is NO thing/ "sin" from the outside taken into you that can CAUSE the deeds that are so evil requiring your HEART to worship Satan as YOUR LORD. Recall My recent teaching on The LORD is one being. I drew out in "that" writing that we are to LOVE the LORD with all our HEART, and love HIM only. This is the first and foremost commandment upon which The Law rests, and upon which The commandment THOUS SHALL NOT TAKE THE LORDS NAME IN VAIN (I have an indepth work on that also to draw out more not to just take his name, wear it like a badge in NAME only, and then "in the end-times" when Satan sits as the IMPOSTER of Messiah "playacting" Jesus...he will draw unto himself all those who were Christian "play-actors" and KNEW not Christ "THROUGH EXPERIENCE"...and hence repentance and evidence thereof "THE CHANGE".
Most Jewish people did not accept "Jesus as Messiah" due to the fact that he was crucified as a "common criminal" (they EXPECTED Him to ride in like a Holy Joe they were in High Muckedy Duck manner but no he came lowly bearing in HIS body SIN and when Justice had been "satisfied" IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HEAVEN: God then raised Him from the dead". Few Jewish people could understand and comprehend that the Messiah "would be crucified for the SINS of the world". Even educated people like Saul of Tarsus (who became the Apostle Paul) could not grasp the idea. It took an EXPERIENCE with a RESSURRECTED JESUS to gain that wisdom.Yet, Despite this misunderstanding, it does appear that a large number of Jewish people did become Christians by the end of the 1st century largely in part to Pauls teachings. Now THAT deserves a Halleluia! Praise Go!
After the Apostle Paul became a Christian, he had to RETHINK HIS VIEWS of God and discard his "RELIGIOUS education". This did not take long due to the blinding light EXPERIENCE with the resurrected Jesus."(I say nothing new under the sun today as I look around WITNESSING so many Christians and even many who in like-manner as Paul with Gamiel, WE have Arnold Murray the greatest teacher of this DAY, and yet so many SC folks still miss the mark of the circumcism being in the HEART).
Saul of Tarsus began to preach the "deity of the Messiah" while in Damascus. "At once he (Saul of Tarsus) began to preach in the synagogues that "Jesus is the Son of God". All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 9:20-22).
As I write this to you today, Saturday August 13, 2011, I say the same shall be with many of you. PY asks should he "offer himself for public execution"...I ponder that and say no...I will here that many of you shall be astounded. I AM both the women in my allegory story of sin in what if God walked amongst us today? I was BORN "sent" to this Earth to gain my apprenticeship like the cicada in darkness, having sin mightly of the flesh absent from all things of Heaven and Christ to be raked over the coals by Satan and to bear it in MY body the deception...and when Justice had been satisfied God "raised fro the dead" spritually in 1994...in like manner Daddy Bush was speaking openly about "the time" had come fro a New World Order. I was to spend the next several years being fed in the wilderness, and finding PM one night flippng channels did just that. Now, since July 4th, 2011 being stopped in my tracks with BRUISED RIBS, The Holy Spirit has been upon me heavily and in understanding now say children listen to your Mother. The time is drawing near that we are to STAND against this New World Order, The time is upon we saints, born "in sin" and "a state of CONFUSION", to be "in due season" RAISED ressurrected out by The Power from on high, that dwells NOW IN us tabernacling "amongst" us in Spirit. Love one another IN THE TRUTH, forgiving one another and your ownselves also MORE compassionately and quickly lifting one another up and bearing one another FAULTS. I emphasize FAULTS here because SIN IS DEED. What is sin? Sin is to transgress THE LAW. Again, for emphasis I say dear ones:It is better to have ONE fountain than a thousand cistern, ONE ALL-SUFFICIENT God than A THOUSAN INSUFFICENT FRIENDS. This is the first and great commandment of God's law, that we love HIM; and that we do all parts of our duty to Him from a PRINCIPAL of love. We are to love God with ALL our heart, and soul, and might with a sincere love; not in word and tongue only, but "inwardly" in TRUTH. 2. With a strong love. He that is our All, must have our all, and NONE but He. DO NOT WORSHIP Satan, and the "deeds" of when he is here amongst us soon, do not "agree with or shun" a passerby AT THAT TIME lest you become a "partaker".....If AT THAT TIME...someone comes up to you saying HAVE YOU HEARD Jesus is Here...SO NOT AGREE nor DISAGREE with that individual. To agree" is to become a partaker of evil DEED bringing you into FELLOWSHIP with that "one" and "joining" you to Satan. Just say to that individual in that future time..."ehy I've got to get the store, or pick up my child from school or ANYTHING but agreeing or disagreeing. OUR SOLE DESTINY AND PURPOSE here "at this time on the MORROW" is to be "delivered up" before Satan AS A TESTIMONY and WITNESS in this SUPREME COURT...the same one when Justice was satisfied "raised" HIM Jesus from the dead, and NOW we spiritually. Our works are this "journey' in Truth and LOVE. As for all the sins of the flesh claiming the blood I call them all rubbish and I will not recrucifiy My LORD for them. Claim that "gift', and KNOW Christ in experience. Though my "sins" were many and may cause each of you to "perceive me' differently. I urge each of you to RE-THINK, and look through HIS eyes, and KNOW that as each nail was driven in His hands and feet...HE KNEW we would be deceived, fall short and sin in the flesh, but HE also knew He could count on us to teach of His LOVE, His MERCY...and STAND United "in Christ" against "Satan". God is LOVE. He proveded MERCY, give it to others, but most importantly RECIVE IT into your HEART. Let Him reign from Heaven IN Hearts "collectively" as Christ, and as a sheep before HER shearers is dumb (silent) I will take the blame and not speak out when others past, present, and future speak against me. For I know they KNOW not Christ.
Back to Paul in conclusion: Years later, the Apostle Paul wrote about "his status" as a Jew and his "religious education" as RUBBISH (before becoming a Christian) when compared to KNOWING Messiah. (again this is key the KNOWING denotes "experience" and is to be one of the most profound things in the end which many Chirstians IN NAME ONLY run up to the Messiah saying Jesus I prayed in your name, I gave money and clothes and visited the poor wretched slutty prostitutes in jail, I even condemned the homosexual in YOUR NAME....and listen carefully here..He will say GET OUT OF MY SIGHT for I never KNEW "denotes experienced" YOU!
Quoting Paul: "If anyone else THINKS ("conception" is NOW in the mind NOT the womb) he has reasons to put confidence in the FLESH, I have more: "circumcised on the eighth day", of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to THE LAW, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for LEGALISTIC righteousness, "faultless". But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of *KNOWING (*theres that word again) Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from THE LAW, but that which is through FAITH in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:4-9).
Saul of Tarsus was highly educated about matters of the Jewish faith. He had to RETHINK "what is truth" after he met the resurrected Messiah. To explain this drastic change, the Apostle Paul writes about the "Mystery of the Messiah". This biblical mystery is based on a Messiah that brings salvation to the world through the Messiah's death (atonement) and resurrection. To most Jewish people, Jesus remains a mystery since they have decided to reject what Daniel wrote about the Messiah as a "sacrificial offering" to make a COVENANT (the New Testament). Consider how the Apostle Paul wrote about the mystery of Messiah.
". . . the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to THE SAINTS. " (Colossians 1:26-27). (ahhhhh THE SAINTS...now we are getting right down to where the rubber meets the road in TRUTH on Partaking, DEEDS, and FELLOWSHIP and the VERY POINT of the spearhead I am shooting).
"In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed "by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets*****UMMM...HOW?....its "revealed" By The Spirit and now to WHOM?....the HOLY Apostles and prophets aka THE SAINTS...even unto the coming of ANTI-MESSIAH I add for emphatiness!). This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are "heirs TOGETHER" with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 3:4-6). Bear this FACT IN MIND
So the mystery is that God has always purposed to love every human (Jews and Gentiles) and to provide a way of salvation to all people. This righteousness must be received from the Messiah only. It can never be accomplished by a human choosing to live right according to a set of rules. Consider how these ideas apply to Islamic beliefs.
Islam in the Light of "Saul of Tarsus"
Islam began as a militaristic religion that spread its views using the sword. About 100 years after Muhammad died, Islam had spread from Persia in the East to Spain in the West. Today, fundamentalist Islam retains these same characteristics. The idea of holy war (jihad) pervades our world. The attack on the United States (World Trade Centers, Pentagon) on September 11, 2001, supports that fundamentalist Islam has not changed.
In many ways, Saul of Tarsus as a persecutor of Christians can be compared directly to Islamic methods of spreading their faith. Saul of Tarsus could not accept the Christian view of God. So Saul of Tarsus took up the sword to convince people that they were wrong for not holding to the religious views of the Jewish authorities.
However, Saul of Tarsus met the resurrected Messiah on the road to Damascus in a supernatural blinding-light experience. The hardened heart of Saul instantly softened as he realized he was wrong. So he accepted that Jesus, who died as a common criminal, is actually the Messiah that offers eternal salvation to all humans.
This caused great change in Saul of Tarsus. Instead of persecuting others, the Apostle Paul began to preach that Jesus is the Messiah. The result was that Paul was persecuted by non-believing Jewish people. Eventually, the Roman Empire persecuted the early Christians as well. It was during the reign of Caesar Nero that Christians were martyred for their beliefs. The Apostle Paul was martyred between the years 64 to 66 CE for his faith in Jesus as Messiah.
Paul's life story is a testimony of the reality of Jesus the Messiah. It took a supernatural experience to change a Saul from a persecutor of Christians to the Apostle Paul, a fellow Christian believer.
Today, Muslims are convinced that the Qur'an contains the word of God. However, the Einstein Method has shown that Islam does not appear to be from the Creator. A "false" Gabriel appears to have spoken to Muhammad from INSIDE time-space. No long-term prophecies have been observed. Muhammad appears to have been deceived. If the false Gabriel could foretell the distant future, then the message would be found acceptable. Logic requires that we question the Muslim world view.
Stay with me guys. Now, I believe the initial "stirrings in this thread" was surrounding 2 John1:11. The emphasis SHOULD BE on the word PARTAKER and DEEDS. Looking at ACT (as a verb) and INCLUSION (as a noun). BEAR WITH ME here. Think deep but KEEP IT SIMPLE my dear little children.
For he that biddeth him God speed,.... Wishes him well, and success in "his MINISTRY", or in a friendly and familiar way converses with him:
is partaker of his evil deeds; "he has FELLOWSHIP with him", instead of reproving or shunning him NOW "before Satan actually is BOOTED out of Heaven to this Earth", as he ought; he is an abettor of him in "his principles", and "so far joins" in the "propagation" of them (doing the WORKS OF EVIL ie in DEED), and helps to spread them, and gives too much reason to think he is ONE with "him" (singular REPRESENTATIVE)... in them (plural collective REPRESENTATIVE).
Is partaker (κοινωνεῖ)
The VERB (as ACT) occurs nowhere else in John's writings. The kindred NOUN κοινωνία fellowship, is peculiar to the First Epistle. See on 1 John 1:3; also on partners (Luke 5:10); fellowship (Acts 2:42); partaker (1 Peter 5:1).
By wishing a false brother or teacher "God (or 'good') speed," you imply that he is capable as such of good speed and joy (the literal meaning of the Greek), and that you wish him it while opposing Christ; so you identify yourself with "his evil deeds." The Greek of "partaker" is "having communion with."
We cannot have communion with saints and with Antichrist at the same time.
You will either do the "work" of one (singular) or the "other"(singular)(how to "work" in the KINGDOM...SHARE the Power of Messiah NOW, and teach about the soon APPROACH of Anti-Messiah in Jerusalem.
Shake off your sins, and FOCUS on the Blood, that you might lead POINTING to Messiah in MERCY and TRUTH..... not the sad tragedy of sin that wrecks all of our lives ("ALL have sinned and fall short of God's glory" - Romans 3:23a), BUT the beauty of a God Who LOVES us in spite of ourselves, a God who accepts us and leads us out of our sinful state, a God Whose LOVE LASTS & DOES NOT QUIT: A PATIENT MERCY THAT CARES FOR US ! ! !
The Child in the Story At the beginning of this blog post " If God Walked Amongst us" is EACH OF YOU:
Psalms 116:1-2
1I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
I PLEAD CHILDREN of ISRAEL
6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!
He Himself has torn us to pieces,
but He will heal us!
He has injured us,
but He will bandage our wounds!
2 He will restore us in a very short time;
He will heal us in a little while,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 So let us acknowledge Him!
Let us seek to acknowledge the Lord!
He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn,
as certainly as the winter rain comes,
as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”
4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, O Judah?
For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist;
it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew!
5 Therefore, I will certainly cut you into pieces at the hands of the prophets;
I will certainly kill you in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment;
for my judgment will come forth like the light of the dawn.
6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;
I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.
7 At Adam they broke the covenant;
Oh how they were unfaithful to me!
8 Gilead is a city full of evildoers;
its streets are stained with bloody footprints!
9 The company of priests is like a gang of robbers,
lying in ambush to pounce on a victim.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem;
they have done heinous crimes!
10 I have seen a disgusting thing in the temple of Israel:
there Ephraim practices temple prostitution
and Judah defiles itself.
11 I have appointed a time to reap judgment for you also, O Judah!
Whenever I want to restore the fortunes of my people,
7:1 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.
2 They do not realize
that I remember all of their wicked deeds.
Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;
their sinful deeds are always before me.
3 The royal advisers delight the king with their evil schemes,
the princes make him glad with their lies.
4 They are all like bakers,
they are like a smoldering oven;
they are like a baker who does not stoke the fire
until the kneaded dough is ready for baking.
5 At the celebration of their king,
his princes become inflamed with wine;
they conspire with evildoers.
6 They approach him, all the while plotting against him.
Their hearts are like an oven;
their anger smolders all night long,
but in the morning it bursts into a flaming fire.
7 All of them are blazing like an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All of their kings fall –
and none of them call on me!
8 Ephraim has mixed itself like flour among the nations;
Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side.
9 Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced,
but he does not recognize it!
His head is filled with gray hair,
but he does not realize it!
10 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him,
yet they refuse to return to the Lord their God!
In spite of all this they refuse to seek him!
11 Ephraim has been like a dove,
easily deceived and lacking discernment.
They called to Egypt for help;
they turned to Assyria for protection.
12 I will throw my bird net over them while they are flying,
I will bring them down like birds in the sky;
I will discipline them when I hear them flocking together.
13 Woe to them! For they have fled from me!
Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me!
I want to deliver them,
but they have lied to me.
14 They do not pray to me,
but howl in distress on their beds;
They slash themselves for grain and new wine,
but turn away from me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened them,
they plot evil against me!
16 They turn to Baal;
they are like an unreliable bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because their prayers to Baal have made me angry.
So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt.
edited to give proper credit to Teresa
