Formation Journal Reading Plan

4:1 Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

4:2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

4:3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.

4:4 “Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

4:5 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.

4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.

4:7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

4:8 They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

4:9 It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.

4:10 They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh.

4:11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.

4:12 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

4:13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.

4:15 “Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’

4:16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.

4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!

4:18 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.

4:19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.

11:16 A gracious woman obtains honor, but violent men obtain riches.

11:17 The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

11:18 Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

11:19 He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death.

11:20 Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.

11:21 Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous will be delivered.

11:22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

11:23 The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath.

11:24 There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.

11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

11:26 People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

11:27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.

11:28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.

11:29 He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.

11:31 Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner!

4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God.

4:8 He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.

4:9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

4:11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

4:13 By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

4:14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.

4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

4:16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

4:17 In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.

4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

4:20 If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

4:21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.