July 24 Devotional Reading
Our reading for July 24 is Hosea 12-14 and Song of Solomon 5.
Hosea 12 - KJV
1: Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2: The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
3: He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
4: Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him [in] Bethel, and there he spake with us;
5: Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD [is] his memorial.
6: Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
7: [He is] a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
8: And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: [in] all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that [were] sin.
9: And I [that am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10: I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
11: [Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
12: And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep].
13: And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
14: Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
Hosea 13 - KJV
1: When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2: And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, [and] idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3: Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff [that] is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4: Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
5: I did know thee 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 have they forgotten me.
7: Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
8: I will meet them as a bear [that is] bereaved [of her whelps], and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9: O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.
10: I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11: I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took [him] away in my wrath.
12: The iniquity of Ephraim [is] bound up; his sin [is] hid.
13: The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children.
14: I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15: Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16: Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Hosea 14 - KJV
1: O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2: Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3: Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, [Ye are] our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5: I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6: His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7: They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.
8: Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9: Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Song of Solomon 5 - KJV
1: I am come into my garden, my sister, [my] spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
2: I sleep, but my heart waketh: [it is] the voice of my beloved that knocketh, [saying], Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, [and] my locks with the drops of the night.
3: I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4: My beloved put in his hand by the hole [of the door], and my bowels were moved for him.
5: I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped [with] myrrh, and my fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6: I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, [and] was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7: The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8: I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I [am] sick of love.
9: What [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, O thou fairest among women? what [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
10: My beloved [is] white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11: His head [is as] the most fine gold, his locks [are] bushy, [and] black as a raven.
12: His eyes [are] as [the eyes] of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, [and] fitly set.
13: His cheeks [are] as a bed of spices, [as] sweet flowers: his lips [like] lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
14: His hands [are as] gold rings set with the beryl: his belly [is as] bright ivory overlaid [with] sapphires.
15: His legs [are as] pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance [is] as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16: His mouth [is] most sweet: yea, he [is] altogether lovely. This [is] my beloved, and this [is] my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
This Daily Bible Study text is from the 1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible, also known as the Authorized Version.
