service.

And Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and runneth after the east wind, and maketh more idolatry and mischief every day: they make a covenant with Assyria, and bring balm into Egypt.

Therefore the LORD will plead the cause of Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his character, and will recompense him according to his merit.

Yea, they say, he hath trodden under his brother in his mother’s womb, and hath fought with God with all his might.

And he fought with the angel, and prevailed; for he wept, and besought him: for there he found him at Bethel, and there he spake unto us.

But the LORD is the God of hosts: the LORD is his name.

Turn therefore unto thy God, keep mercy and justice, and hope always in thy God.

But the merchant hath a false scale in his hand, and loveth to deceive.

For Ephraim saith, I am rich, I have enough; there shall no iniquity be found me in all my work that is sin.

But I, the LORD, am thy God out of the land of Egypt, and I that let thee dwell in the tabernacles, as they do in the seasons of the year,

And speak unto the prophets: and I am he that giveth much prophecy, and sheweth me by the prophets.

In Gilead is idolatry, and in Gilgal they sacrifice oxen in vain; and they have as many altars as there are almonds in the field.

And Jacob fled into the land of Syria: and Israel had to serve for a wife, for a wife he had to shew.

And afterward the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet, and shepherded him by a prophet.

And now Ephraim hath provoked him to anger by their idols: therefore their blood shall come upon them, and the LORD shall recompense their reproach.
(Hosea)
Chapter 13
Sin brings corruption, Christ’s victory brings life.

Because Ephraim taught terribly, he was exalted in Israel. Afterward they sinned through Baal, and were slain for it.

But now they make much more of their sins, and of their silver such images as they can devise, even idols, which are vain works of wrought iron. Neither do they preach of them, He that killeth calves, let him sacrifice men.

The same shall have the morning cloud, and the dew that falleth early, even as the chaff that is blown from the threshingfloor, and as the smoke from the wall of the fire.

And I am the LORD thy God, from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no other God but me, and no saviour without me.

For I took care of thee in the wilderness, in the dry land;

But because they are fed, and have enough, their heart is lifted up; therefore they forget me.

So will I be against them as a lion, and as a leopard in the way will I lie in wait for them.

I will meet them as a bear whose cubs are taken away, and will rend their hardened heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beasts shall tear them.

Israel, thou hast brought thyself into evil: for thy salvation is with me alone.

Where is thy king gone, to help thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou hast said: Give me kings and princes?

Well, I gave thee a king in mine anger, and will take him away from thee in my wrath.

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, and her sin is kept.

For they shall be afflicted as a woman in childbirth: for they are careless children. The time shall come, that they shall not tarry for the mourning of the children.

But I will deliver them out of hell, and save them from death. Death, I will be a poison unto thee; Hell, I will be a pestilence unto thee! But consolation is hidden from mine eyes.

For he shall bring forth fruit between brethren. The east wind shall come, and the LORD
shall come up out of the wilderness, and shall dry up her fountain, and dry up her spring, and shall spoil the treasure of all the precious vessels.
Ch. 14. v. 1. Samaria shall be desolate, for they have disobeyed their God. They shall fall by the sword, and their young children shall be broken in pieces, and their pregnant women shall be torn in pieces.
(Hosea)
Chapter 14
God shows his mercy to the penitent.

Turn thou, O Israel, unto the LORD thy God: for thou art fallen because of thine iniquity.

Take these words with you, and turn unto the LORD, and say unto him, Forgive us all our sins, and do us good; and we will offer the fair of our lips.

Assyria shall not help us, neither shall we ride upon horses any more, neither shall we say any more unto the works of our hands: Ye are our God: but let the fatherless find grace in thee, 5. Then will I heal their cessation, gladly will I love them; then shall mine anger turn from them.

I will be to Israel as the dew, and he shall blossom as the rose; and his roots shall shoot forth
as Lebanon,

And his branches shall spread forth, and he shall be as beautiful as an olive tree; and he shall give as good a smell as Lebanon.

And they shall sit again under his shadow. They shall feed on grain, and flourish like a vine; his memorial shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim, what shall the idols be to me? I will hearken unto him, and lead him; I will be as a green fir tree: in me shall thy fruit be found.

Who is wise that understandeth these things, and prudent that knoweth them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk therein: but the transgressors fall therein.
Text of the unrevised Luther Bible 1545:
DeepL English Translation
[Processed by BackToLuther. German text published here.]
The prophet Joel ^
Chapter 1
Proclamation of God’s punishments concerning the Jews.

This is the word of the LORD, which came unto Joel the son of Pethuel: 2. Hear this, ye elders, and consider, all the inhabitants of the land, whether these things were done in your days, or in the days of your fathers.

Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children their seed, 4. To wit, What the caterpillars leave, that the locusts eat; and what the locusts leave, that the beetles eat; and what the beetles leave, that the fowls eat.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, and howl, all ye winebibbers, for the wine: for it is taken away from before your mouth.

For there cometh up into my land a mighty nation, and without number, having teeth like lions, and molars like lionesses.

The same hath laid waste my vineyard, and cut down my fig tree, and shewed it, and cast it down, that the branches thereof are white.

howl like a virgin who puts on sackcloth for her bridegroom!

For the meat offering and the drink offering are gone from the house of the LORD, and the priests the LORD’S servants mourn.

The field is desolate, and the ground miserable; the corn is corrupt, the wine miserable, and the oil miserable.

The husbandmen see miserably, and the husbandmen weep for the wheat and for the barley, that nothing can come of the harvest of the field.

The vine also is miserable, and the fig tree pitiful; and the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: for the joy of men is turned into mourning.

Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar; go in, and lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. For it is both meat offering and drink offering gone from the house of your God.

Sanctify a fast; call the congregation together; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.

O woe to the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and cometh as destruction from the Almighty.

And the meat shall be taken away from before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the house of our God.

The seed is rotten under the earth, the granaries are desolate, the barns are broken down: for the corn is corrupt.

O how the cattle groan! The oxen look piteous, for they have no pasture; and the sheep
languish.

O LORD, I call upon thee: for the fire hath burned up the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath kindled all the trees of the field.

The wild beasts also cry unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath burned up the pastures of the wilderness.
(Joel)
Chapter 2
Of true repentance, of Christ, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, shout in my holy mountain: tremble, all ye inhabitants of the land. For the day of the LORD cometh, and is at hand.

A dark day, a gloomy day, a cloudy day, a misty day, as the dawn spreadeth over the mountains; even a great and mighty nation, such as was not before, neither shall be henceforth for ever and ever.

Before him goeth a devouring fire, and after him a burning flame. The land before him is like a garden of pleasure, but after him like a desolate wilderness; and no man shall escape it.

they are fashioned like horses and run like riders.

Therefore they burst forth upon the top of the mountains, as the chariots rattle, and as a flame blaze in the straw, as a mighty people prepared for battle.

The nations shall be astonished at him: the faces of all shall be as the pots.

They