For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones.Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; From Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13, NRSV Today’s…
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Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say,‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond…
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Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice…
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His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden;they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. From Hosea 14:2-10, NRSV The Book of Hosea ends with an…
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Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground;for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. From Hosea 10:1-3,7-8,12, NRSV The prophet Hosea continues to foretell the downfall of the Kingdom of Israel as a consequence of their sinfulness. However, although they cannot escape…
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Though they offer choice sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the Lord does not accept them.Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. From Hosea 8:4-7,11-13, NRSV In today’s reading, we hear the prophet Hosea describing the sins of the Kingdom of Israel and foretelling the punishment they will undergo. They…
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On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband’, and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal’. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. Hosea 2:16,17,21-22, NRSV Like many of the prophets, Hosea did not have an easy…
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For thus says the Lord:I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees.As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. From Isaiah 66:10-14,…
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The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land;not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east;they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they…
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The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land;not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east;they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they…
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