Week of Rosh Hashanah - Wednesday

Genesis 22:1-8, Hosea 12:1-14:9, Psalm 136:13-26

Genesis 22:1-8

After these things, Hashem tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

3 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey; and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which Hashem had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham, lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 

7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am, my son.”

He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

8 Abraham said, “Hashem will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.

Hosea 12:1-14:9

Ephraim feeds on wind,

    and chases the east wind.
    He continually multiplies lies and desolation.
    They make a covenant with Assyria,
    and oil is carried into Egypt.

2 Hashem also has a controversy with Judah,
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
    according to his deeds he will repay him.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
    and in his manhood he contended with Hashem.

4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed;
    he wept, and made supplication to him.
    He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us—

5 even Hashem, the Elohim of Armies.
    Hashem is His name of renown!

6 Therefore, turn to your Elohim.
    Keep kindness and justice,
    and wait continually for your Elohim.

7 A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand.
    He loves to defraud.

8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich.
    I have found myself wealth.
    In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.”

9 “But I am Hashem your Elohim from the land of Egypt.
    I will yet again make you dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the solemn feast.

10 I have also spoken to the prophets,
    and I have multiplied visions;
    and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

11 If Gilead is wicked,
    surely they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
    Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob fled into the country of Aram.
    Israel served to get a wife.
    For a wife he tended flocks and herds.

13 By a prophet Hashem brought Israel up out of Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was preserved.

14 Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger.
    Therefore, his blood will be left on him,
    and his Hashem will repay his contempt.

13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.

    He exalted himself in Israel,
    but when he became guilty through Baal, he died.

2 Now they sin more and more,
    and have made themselves molten images of their silver,
    even idols according to their own understanding,
    all of them the work of the craftsmen.
    They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.

3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,
    like the dew that passes away early,
    like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor,
    and like the smoke out of the chimney.

 

4 “Yet I am Hashem your Elohim from the land of Egypt;
    and you shall acknowledge no god but Me,
    and besides Me there is no savior.

5 I knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of great drought.

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled;
    they were filled, and their heart was exalted.
    Therefore, they have forgotten Me.

7 Therefore, I am like a lion to them.
    Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path.

8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs,
    and will tear the covering of their heart.
    There I will devour them like a lioness.
    The wild animal will tear them.

9 You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against Me,
    against your helper.

10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities?
    And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?

11 I have given you a king in My anger,
    and have taken him away in My wrath.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up.
    His sin is stored up.

13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him.
    He is an unwise son,
    for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
    I will redeem them from death!
    Death, where are your plagues?
    Sheol, where is your destruction?

“Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.

15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come,
    the breath of Hashen coming up from the wilderness;
    and his spring will become dry,
    and his fountain will be dried up.
    He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

16 Samaria will bear her guilt,
    for she has rebelled against her Elohim.
    They will fall by the sword.
    Their infants will be dashed in pieces,
    and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”

14:1 Israel, return to Hashem your Elohim;
    for you have fallen because of your sin.

2 Take words with you, and return to Hashem.
    Tell him, “Forgive all our sins,
    and accept that which is good;
    so we offer bulls as we vowed of our lips.

3 Assyria can’t save us.
    We won’t ride on horses;
    neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’
    for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”

 

4 “I will heal their waywardness.
    I will love them freely;
    for My anger is turned away from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel.
    He will blossom like the lily,
    and send down his roots like Lebanon.

6 His branches will spread,
    and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7 Men will dwell in his shade.
    They will revive like the grain,
    and blossom like the vine.
    Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols?
    I answer, and will take care of him.
    I am like a green cypress tree;
    from Me your fruit is found.”

9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
    Who is prudent, that he may know them?
    For the ways of Hashem are right,
    and the righteous walk in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

Psalm 136:13-26

13 To Him who divided the Red Sea apart,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

14 and made Israel to pass through the middle of it,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

16 to Him who led his people through the wilderness,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

17 to Him who struck great kings,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

18 and killed mighty kings,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

19 Sihon King of the Amorites,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

20 Og King of Bashan,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

22 even a heritage to Israel his servant,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

23 who remembered us in our low estate,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

24 and has delivered us from our adversaries,
    for His loving kindness endures forever;

25 who gives food to every creature,
    for His loving kindness endures forever.

26 Oh, give thanks to the Elohim of heaven,
    for His loving kindness endures forever.

Week of Rosh Hashanah - Tuesday

Genesis 21:22-34, Hosea 9:1-11:12, Psalm 136:6-12

Genesis 21:22-34

At that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “Hashem is with you in all that you do. 23 Now, therefore, swear to me here by Hashem that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”

24 Abraham said, “I will swear.” 25 Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. 26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”

27 Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 

29 Abimelech said to Abraham, 

“What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”

30 He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” 31 Therefore, he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore an oath there. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. 34 Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

Hosea 9:1-11:12

Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations;

   for you were unfaithful to your Elohim.
    You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
² The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them,
    and the new wine will fail her.
³ They won’t dwell in Hashem’s land;
    but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
    and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
⁴ They won’t pour out wine offerings to Hashem,
    neither will they be pleasing to Him.
    Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
    all who eat of it will be polluted;
    for their bread will be for their appetite.
    It will not come into Hashem’s house.
⁵ What will you do in the day of solemn assembly,
    and in the day of the feast of Hashem?
⁶ For, behold, when they flee destruction,
    Egypt will gather them up.
    Memphis will bury them.
    Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.
    Thorns will be in their tents.
⁷ The days of visitation have come.
    The days of reckoning have come.

Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,
    and the man who is inspired to be insane,
    because of the abundance of your sins,
    and because your hostility is great.
⁸ A prophet watches over Ephraim with my Elohim.
   A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths,
       and hostility in the house of his Elohim.
⁹ They have deeply corrupted themselves,
       as in the days of Gibeah.
       He will remember their iniquity.
       He will punish them for their sins.
¹⁰ I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.
       I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season;
       but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing,
       and became abominable like that which they loved.
¹¹ As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.
       There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
¹² Though they bring up their children,
       yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.
  

  Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
¹³ I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place;
       but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.
¹⁴Give them—Hashem what will you give?
       Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

¹⁵“All their wickedness is in Gilgal;
       for there I hated them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house!
      I will love them no more.
      All their princes are rebels.
¹⁶ Ephraim is struck.
      Their root has dried up.
      They will bear no fruit.
      Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”

¹⁷ My Elohim will cast them away, because they didn’t listen to Him;
     and they will be wanderers among the nations.

10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit.

According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars.
     As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
² Their heart is divided.
     Now they will be found guilty.
     He will demolish their altars.
     He will destroy their sacred stones.
³ Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear Hashem;
     and the king, what can he do for us?”
⁴ They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants.
     Therefore, judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven,
     for its people will mourn over it,
     along with its priests who rejoiced over it,
     for its glory, because it has departed from it.
⁶ It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king.
     Ephraim will receive shame,
     and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷ Samaria and her king float away
    like a twig on the water.
⁸ The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
    The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars.
    They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹ “Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah.
    There they remained.
    The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.
¹⁰ When it is my desire, I will chastise them;
    and the nations will be gathered against them
    when they are bound to their two transgressions.
¹¹ Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh,
    so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck.
    I will set a rider on Ephraim.
    Judah will plow.
    Jacob will break his clods.
¹² Sow to yourselves in righteousness,
    reap according to kindness.
Break up your fallow ground,
    for it is time to seek Hashem,
    until He comes and rains righteousness on you.
¹³ You have plowed wickedness.
    You have reaped iniquity.
    You have eaten the fruit of lies,
    for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.
¹⁴ Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses will be destroyed,
    as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle.
    The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
¹⁵ So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness.
    At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.

11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,

   and called my son out of Egypt.
² They called to them, so they went from them.
    They sacrificed to the Baals,
    and burned incense to engraved images.
³ Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.
    I took them by their arms,
    but they didn’t know that I healed them.
⁴ I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love;
    and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;
    and I bent down to him and I fed him.

⁵ “They won’t return into the land of Egypt;
    but the Assyrian will be their king,
    because they refused to repent.

⁶ The sword will fall on their cities,
    and will destroy the bars of their gates,
    and will put an end to their plans.
⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
   Though they call to the Most High, 

He certainly won’t exalt them.

⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
    How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboiim?

My heart is turned within Me,
My compassion is aroused.
⁹ I will not execute the fierceness of My anger.
    I will not return to destroy Ephraim,
    for I am Elohim, and not man—the Holy One among you.
    I will not come in wrath.
¹⁰ They will walk after Hashem,
    who will roar like a lion;

  for He will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt,
    and like a dove out of the land of Assyria;
  and I will settle them in their houses,” says Hashem.

¹² Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood,
    and the house of Israel with deceit.
    Judah still strays from Elohim,
    and is unfaithful to the Holy One.

Psalm 136:6-12

To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

    for His loving kindness endures forever;

⁷ to Him who made the great lights,

    for His loving kindness endures forever;

⁸ the sun to rule by day,

    for His loving kindness endures forever;

⁹ the moon and stars to rule by night,

    for His loving kindness endures forever; 

10 to Him who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,

    for His loving kindness endures forever;

¹¹ and brought out Israel from among them,

    for His loving kindness endures forever;

¹² with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,

    For His loving kindness endures forever.