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DECEMBER 11
Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; He shall plunder the treasury of every
8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of desirable prize.
her cubs; 16 Samaria is held guilty,
I will tear open their rib cage, For she has rebelled against her God.
And there I will devour them like a lion. They shall fall by the sword,
The wild beast shall tear them. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child ripped open.
9 “O Israel, you are destroyed,
But your help is from Me. O Israel, return to the LORD
10 I will be your King; 14 your God,
Where is any other, For you have stumbled because of
That he may save you in all your cities? your iniquity;
And your judges to whom you said, 2 Take words with you,
‘Give me a king and princes’? And return to the LORD.
11
I gave you a king in My anger, Say to Him,
And took him away in My wrath.
“Take away all iniquity;
12 “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; Receive us graciously,
His sin is stored up. For we will offer the sacrifices of
13 The sorrows of a woman in childbirth our lips.
shall come upon him. 3 Assyria shall not save us,
He is an unwise son, We will not ride on horses,
For he should not stay long where Nor will we say anymore to the work of
children are born. our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
14
“I will ransom them from the power
of the grave; 4 “I will heal their backsliding,
I will redeem them from death. I will love them freely,
O Death, I will be your plagues! For My anger has turned away
O Grave, I will be your destruction! from him.
Pity is hidden from My eyes.” 5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily,
And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread;
His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
13:14 Placing the strong affirmation of deliv- And his fragrance like Lebanon.
erance so abruptly after a denunciation inten- 7 Those who dwell under his shadow
sified the wonder of His unrequited love shall return;
(11:8,9; Lev. 26:44). This can apply to God’s
restoration of Israel from Assyria,and in future They shall be revived like grain,
times from all the lands of the Dispersion,pre- And grow like a vine.
serving them and bringing them back to their Their scent shall be like the wine
land for the kingdom of Messiah (Ezek. 37). It of Lebanon.
also speaks of the time of personal resurrec- 8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do
tion as in Daniel 12:2,3. Repentant Israelites anymore with idols?’
will be restored to the land and even raised I have heard and observed him.
from death to glory. Paul uses this text in I am like a green cypress tree;
1Corinthians 15:55 to celebrate the future Your fruit is found in Me.”
resurrection of the church.The Messiah’s great
9
victory over death and the grave is the first- Who is wise?
fruits of the full harvest to come, when all Let him understand these things.
believers will likewise experience the power of Who is prudent?
His resurrection. Let him know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right;
The righteous walk in them,
Though he is fruitful among his But transgressors stumble in them.
15
brethren,
An east wind shall come; Psalm 140:1–5
The wind of the LORD shall come up To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry, eliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
And his fountain shall be dried up. D Preserve me from violent men,

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