Bible in a Year.

On day 175, 2 Kings 6-7 recounts Elisha's miracles that strengthen the people's faith and hope. Hosea 4-7 denounces Israel's corruption and unfaithfulness, calling for reflection and repentance. Psalm 103 raises our gratitude for God's mercy and goodness, reminding us to forgive and trust Him daily.

Chapter 6

1. And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.

2. Let us go as far as the Jordan and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go.

3. And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come.

4. So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan they cut down wood.

5. And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the axe fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed.

6. And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him the place. Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam.

7. And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand and took it.

8. And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place let us lay ambushes.

9. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush.

10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice.

11. And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel?

12. And one of his servants said: No one, my lord O king: but Eliseus the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.

13. And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send, and take him. And they told him, saying: Behold he is in Dothan.

14. Therefore he sent thither horses and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.

15. And the servant of the man of God rising early, went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do?

16. But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.

17. And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus.

18. And the enemies came down to him, but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness. And the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus.

19. And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria.

20. And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria.

21. And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them?

22. And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

23. And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank, and he let them go, and they went away to their master, and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

24. And tit came to pass after these things, that Benadad king of Syria gathered together all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

25. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeon's dung, for five pieces of silver.

26. And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord O king.

27. And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:

28. This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.

29. So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.

30. When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh.

31. And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus the son of Saphat shall stand on him this day.

32. But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then, when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master's feet is behind him.

33. While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?

Chapter 7

1. And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: To morrow about this time a bushel of fine hour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.

2. Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make hood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

3. Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?

4. If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come, therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die.

5. So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp, And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there.

6. For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army, and they said one to another: Behold the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians, and they are come upon us.

7. Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives.

8. So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it.

9. Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go and tell it in the king's court.

10. So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.

11. Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within the king's palace.

12. And he arose in the night and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.

13. And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed,) and let us send and see.

14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.

15. And they went after them as far as the Jordan: and behold all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their fright, and the messengers returned end told the king.

16. And the people going out pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.

17. And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.

18. And it came to pass according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time to morrow in the gate of Samaria.

19. When that lord answered the mall of' God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.

20. And so it fell out to him as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

Chapter 4

1. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord shall enter into judgment with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land.

2. Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.

3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered together.

4. But yet let not any man judge: and let not a man be rebuked: for thy people are as they that contradict the priest.

5. And thou shalt fall to day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee: in the night I have made thy mother to be silent.

6. My people have been silent, because they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me: and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7. According to the multitude of them so have they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.

8. They shall eat the sins of my people, and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity.

9. And there shall be like people like priest: and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them their devices.

10. And they shall eat and shall not be filled: they have committed fornication, and have not ceased: because they have forsaken the Lord in not observing his law.

11. Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness take away the understanding.

12. My people have consulted their stocks, and their staff hath declared unto them: for the spirit of fornication hath deceived them, and they have committed fornication against their God.

13. They offered sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burnt incense upon the hills: under the oak, and the poplar, and the turpentine tree, because the shadow thereof was good: therefore shall your daughters commit fornication, and your spouses shall be adulteresses.

14. I will not visit upon your daughters when they shell commit fornication, and upon your spouses when they shall commit adultery: because themselves conversed with harlots, and offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and the people that doth not understand shall be beaten.

15. If thou play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Juda offend: and go ye not into Galgal, and come not up into Bethaven, and do not swear: The Lord liveth.

16. For Israel hath gone astray like a wanton heifer: now will the Lord feed them, as a lamb in a spacious place.

17. Ephraim is a partaker with idols, let him alone.

18. Their banquet is separated, they have gone astray by fornication: they that should have protected them have loved to bring shame upon them.

19. The wind hath bound them up in its wings, and they shall be confounded because of their sacrifices.

Chapter 5

1. Hear ye this, O priests, and hearken, O ye house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king: for there is a judgment against you, because you have been a snare to them whom you should have watched over, and a net spread upon Thabor.

2. And you have turned aside victims into the depth: and I am, the teacher of them all.

3. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now Ephraim hath committed fornication, Israel is defiled.

4. They will not set their thoughts to return to their God: for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.

5. And the pride of Israel shall answer in his face: and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity, Juda also shall fall with them.

6. With their flocks, and with their herds, they shall go to seek the Lord, and shall not find him: he is withdrawn from them.

7. They have transgressed against the Lord, for they have begotten children that are strangers: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8. Blow ye the cornet in Gabaa, the trumpet in Rama: howl ye in Bethaven, behind thy back, O Benjamin.

9. Ephraim shall be in desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel I have shewn that which shall surely be.

10. The princes of Juda are become as they that take up the bound: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11. Ephraim is under oppression, and broken in judgment: because he began to go after filthiness.

12. And I will be like a moth to Ephraim: and like rottenness to the house of Juda.

13. And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Juda his band: and Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent to the avenging king: and he shall not be able to heal you, neither shall he be able to take off the band from you.

14. For I will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a lion's whelp to the house of Juda: I, I will catch, and go: I will take away, and there is none that can rescue.

15. I will go and return to my place: until you are consumed, and seek my face.

Chapter 6

1. In their affliction they will rise early to me: Come, and let us return to the Lord:

2. For he hath taken us, and he will heal us: he will strike, and he will cure us.

3. He will revive us after two days: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. We shall know, and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning light, and he will come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth.

4. What shall I do to thee, O Ephraim? what shall I do to thee, O Juda? your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth away in the morning.

5. For this reason have I hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments shall go forth as the light.

6. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.

7. But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me.

8. Galaad is a city of workers of idols, supplanted with blood.

9. And like the jaws of highway robbers, they conspire with the priests who murder in the way those that pass out Sichem: for they have wrought wickedness.

10. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: the fornications of Ephraim there: Israel is defiled.

11. And thou also, O Juda, set thee a harvest, when I shall bring back captivity of my people.

Chapter 7

1. When I would have healed Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria, for they have committed falsehood, and the thief is come in to steal, the robber is without.

2. And lest they may say in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness: their own devices now have beset them about, they have been done before my face.

3. They have made the king glad with their wickedness: and the princes with their lies.

4. They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker: the city rested a little from the mingling of the leaven, till the whole was leavened.

5. The day of our king, the princes began to be mad with wine: he stretched out his hand with scorners.

6. Because they have applied their heart like an oven, when he laid snares for them: he slept all the night baking them, in the morning he himself was heated as a flaming fire.

7. They were all heated like an oven, and have devoured their judges : all their kings have fallen: there is none amongst them that calleth unto me.

8. Ephraim himself is mixed among the nations: Ephraim is become as bread baked under the ashes, that is not turned.

9. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knew it not: yea, grey hairs also are spread about upon him, and he is ignorant of it.

10. And the pride of Israel shall be humbled before his face: and they have not returned to the Lord their God, nor have they sought him in all these.

11. And Ephraim is become as a dove that is decoyed, not having a heart: they called upon Egypt, they went to the Assyrians.

12. And when they shall go, I will spread my net upon them: I will bring them down as the fowl of the air, I will strike them as their congregation hath heard.

13. Woe to them, for they have departed from me: they shall be wasted because they have transgressed against me: and I redeemed them : and they have spoken lies against me.

14. And they have not cried to me with their heart, but they howled in their beds: they have thought upon wheat and wine, they are departed from me.

15. And I have chastised them, and strengthened their arms: and they have imagined evil against me.

16. They returned, that they might be without yoke: they became like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword, for the rage of their tongue. This is their derision in the land of Egypt.

1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name.

2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee.

3. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases.

4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion.

5. Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's.

6. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong.

7. He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the children of Israel.

8. The ford is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy.

9. He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever.

10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11. For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.

12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us.

13. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him:

14. for he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust:

15. man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish.

16. For the spirit shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he shall know his place no more.

17. But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children's children,

18. to such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his commandments to do them.

19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven: and his kingdom shall rule over all.

20. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders.

21. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: you ministers of his that do his will.

22. Bless the Lord, all his works: in every place of his dominion, O my soul, bless thou the Lord.