Bible in a Year.

On day 177, 2 Kings 9 recounts Jehoram's ascension to the throne of Israel and the judgments that follow. Hosea 11-14 demonstrates God's steadfast love for His people and the need for repentance. Psalm 109 calls for divine justice, reminding us that God defends the righteous and punishes wickedness.

1. And Eliseus the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, slid said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad.

2. And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in thou shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry him into an inner chamber.

3. Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the door and flee, and shalt not stay there.

4. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went awry to Ramoth Galaad,

5. And went in thither: and behold the captains of the army were sitting: and he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince.

6. And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel : I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord.

7. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab thy master, and I will revenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezabel.

8. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will cut off from Achab him that pisseth against the well, and him that is shut up, and the meanest in Israel.

9. And I will make the house of Achab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias.

10. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.

11. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his lord: and they said to him: Are all things well? why came this mad man to thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he said.

12. But they answered: It is false, but rather do thou tell us. And he said to them: Thus and thus did he speak to me: and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel.

13. Then they made haste and taking every man his garment laid it under his feet, after the manner of a judgment seat, and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king.

14. So Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth Galaad, he and all Israel fighting with Hazael king of Syria:

15. And was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his wounds, for the Syrians had wounded him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please you, let no mall go forth or flee out of the city, lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel.

16. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel: for Joram was sick there, and Ochozias king of Juda was come down to visit Joram.

17. The watchmen therefore, that stood upon the tower of Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet them, and let him that goeth say: Is all well?

18. So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said : Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them, but he returneth not.

19. And he sent a second chariot of horses: and he came to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and follow me.

20. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them, but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Namsi, for he drives furiously.

21. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made ready his chariot, and Joram king of Israel, and Ochozias king of Juda went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite.

22. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered: What peace ? so long as the fornications of Jezabel thy mother, and her many sorceries are in their vigour.

23. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias.

24. But Jehu bent Iris bow with his hand, and shot Joram between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot.

25. And Jehu said to Badacer his captain: Take him, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite: for I remember when I and thou sitting in a chariot followed Achab this man's father, that the Lord laid this burden upon him, saying :

26. If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now take him, and cast him into the field, according to the word of the Lord.

27. But Ochozias king of Juda seeing this, fled by the way of the garden house : and Jehu pursued him, and said: Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the going up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into Mageddo, and died there.

28. And his servants laid him upon his chariot, and carried him to Jerusalem: and they buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

29. In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Achab, Ochozias reigned over Juda,

30. And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel hearing of his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and adorned her head, and looked out of a window

31. At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master?

32. And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said : Who is this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him.

33. And he said to them: Throw her down headlong: and they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her.

34. And when he was come in, to eat, and to drink, he said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her: because she is a king's daughter.

35. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands.

36. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elias the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel,

37. And the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel, so that they who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel?

Chapter 11

1. As the morning passeth, so hath the king of Israel Israel was a child, and I loved him: and I called my son out of Egypt.

2. As they called them, they went away from before their face: they offered victims to Baalim, and sacrificed to idols.

3. And I was like a foster father to Ephraim, I carried them in my arms: and they knew not that I healed them.

4. I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love : and I will be to them as one that taketh off the yoke on their jaws: and I put his meat to him that he might eat.

5. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king: because they would not be converted.

6. The sword hath begun in his cities, and it shall consume his chosen men, and sha.ll devour their heads.

7. And my people shall long for my return: but a yoke shall be put upon them together, which shall not be taken off.

8. How shall I deal with thee, O Ephraim, shall I protect thee, O Israel? how shall I make thee as Adama, shall I set thee as Seboim? my heart is turned within me, my repentance is stirred up.

9. I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath: I will not return to destroy Ephraim: because I am God, and not man: the holy one in the midst of thee, and I will not enter into the city.

10. They shall walk after the Lord, he shall roar as a lion: because he shall roar, and the children of the sea shall fear.

11. And they shall fly away like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of the Assyrians: and I will place them in their own houses, saith the Lord.

12. Ephraim hath compassed me about with denials, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Juda went down as a witness with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Chapter 12

1. Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth the burning heat: all the day long he multiplied lies and desolation: and he hath made a covenant with the Assyrians, and carried oil into Egypt.

2. Therefore there is a judgment of the Lord with Juda, and a visitation for Jacob: he will render to him according to his ways, and according to his devices.

3. In the womb he supplanted his brother: and by his strength he had success with an angel.

4. And he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

5. Even the Lord the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.

6. Therefore turn thou to thy God : keep mercy and judgment, and hope in thy God always.

7. He is like Chanaan, there is a deceitful balance in his hand, he hath loved oppression.

8. And Ephraim said: But yet I am be- come rich, I have found me an idol: all my labours shall not find me the iniquity that I have committed.

9. And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, will yet cause thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the feast.

10. And I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.

11. If Galaad be an idol, then in vain were they in Galgal offering sacrifices with bullocks: for their altars also are as heaps in the furrows of the field.

12. Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and was a keeper for a wife.

13. But the Lord by a prophet brought Israel out of Egypt: and he was pre- served by a prophet.

14. Ephraim hath provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood shall come upon him, and his Lord will render his reproach unto him.

Chapter 13

1. When Ephraim spoke, a horror seized Israel: and he sinned in Baal and died.

2. And now they have sinned more and more : and they have made to themselves a molten thing of their silver as the likeness of idols: the whole is the work of craftsmen: to these that say: Sacrifice men, ye that adore calves.

3. Therefore they shall be as a morning aloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the dust that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

4. But I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me, and there is no saviour beside me.

5. I knew thee in the desert, in the land of the wilderness.

6. According to their pastures they were filled, and were made full: and they lifted up their heart, and have forgotten me.

7. And I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians.

8. I will meet them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps, and I will rend the inner parts of their liver: and I will devour them there as a lion, the beast of the field shall tear them.

9. Destruction is thy own, 0 Israel: thy help is only in me.

10. Where is thy king? now especially let him save thee in all thy cities: and thy judges, of whom thou saidst: Q Give me kings and princes.

11. I will give thee a king in my wrath, and will take him away in my indignation.

12. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hidden.

13. The sorrows of a woman in labour snail come upon him, he is an unwise son: for now he shall not stand in the breach of the children.

14. I will deliver them out of the hand of death. I will redeem them from death : O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite: comfort is hidden from my eyes.

15. Because he shall make a separation between brothers: s the Lord will bring a burning wind that shall rise from the desert, and it shall dry up his springs, and shall make his fountain desolate, and he shall carry off the treasure of every desirable vessel.

Chapter 14

1. Let Samaria perish, because she hath stirred up her God to bitterness: let them perish by the sword, let their little ones be dashed, and let the women with child be ripped up.

2. Return, O Israel, to the Lord thy God: for thou hast fallen down by thy iniquity.

3. Take with you words, and return to the Lord, and say to him: Take away all iniquity, and receive the good: and we will render the calves of our lips.

4. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more: The works of our hands are our gods, for thou wilt have mercy on the fatherless that is in thee.

5. I will heal their breaches, I will love them freely: for my wrath is turned away from them.

6. I will be as the dew, Israel shall spring as the lily, and his root shall shoot forth as that of Libanus.

7. His branches shall spread, and his glory shall be as the olive tree: and his smell as that of Libanus.

8. They shall be converted that sit under his shadow: they shall live upon wheat, and they shall blossom as a vine: his memorial shall be as the wine of Libanus.

9. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I will hear him, and I will make him flourish like a green fir tree: from me is thy fruit found.

10. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know these things? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall in them.

1. Unto the end, a psalm for David.

2. O God, be not thou silent in thy praise: for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me.

3. They have spoken against with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause.

4. Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer.

5. And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.

6. Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand.

7. When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin.

8. May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take.

9. May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10. Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings.

11. May the userer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours.

12. May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his fatherless offspring.

13. May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name be blotted out.

14. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15. May they be before the lord continually, and let the memory of them perish from the earth:

16. because he remembered not to show mercy,

17. But persecuted the poor man and the beggar; and the broken in heart, to put him to death.

18. And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he would not have blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on cursing, like a garment: and it went in like water into his entrails, and like oil in his bones.

19. May it be unto him like a garment which covereth him; and like a girdle with which he is girded continually.

20. This is the work of them who detract me before the Lord; and who speak evils against my soul.

21. But thou, O Lord, do with for thy names sake: because thy mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me.

22. for I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me.

23. I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth: and I am shaken off as locusts.

24. My knees are weakened through fasting: and my flesh is changed for oil.

25. And I am become a reproach to them: they saw me and they shaked their heads,

26. Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to thy mercy.

27. And let them know that this is thy hand: and that thou, O Lord, hast done it.

28. They will curse and thou will bless: let them that rise up against me be confounded: but thy servant shall rejoice.

29. Let them that detract me be clothed with shame: and let them be covered with the their confusion as with a double cloak.

30. I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in the midst of many I will praise him.

31. Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from persecutors