April 14, 2024 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS

 

Hosea 1:2-9

Hosea's Wife and Children

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy,[a] for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People,[b] for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”[c]

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
  2. Hosea 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
  3. Hosea 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours

Hosea 2:19-23

19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer Jezreel,[a]
23     and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,[b]
    and I will say to Not My People,[c] ‘You are my people’;
    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
  2. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
  3. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi

Psalm 30

Joy Comes with the Morning

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
    and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
    you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name.[b]
For his anger is but for a moment,
    and his favor is for a lifetime.[c]
Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.

As for me, I said in my prosperity,
    “I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O Lord,
    you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
    I was dismayed.

To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
“What profit is there in my death,[d]
    if I go down to the pit?[e]
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 30:3 Or to life, that I should not go down to the pit
  2. Psalm 30:4 Hebrew to the memorial of his holiness (see Exodus 3:15)
  3. Psalm 30:5 Or and in his favor is life
  4. Psalm 30:9 Hebrew in my blood
  5. Psalm 30:9 Or to corruption


The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com

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