Ezekiel 24 Cross References - BSB

¹ In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, write down today’s date, for on this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. ³ Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water. ⁴ Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece—thigh and shoulder—fill it with choice bones. ⁵ Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’ ⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents. ⁷ For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have placed her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.’ ⁹ Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high. ¹⁰ Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned. ¹¹ Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed. ¹² It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire. ¹³ Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided. ¹⁴ I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’ declares the Lord GOD.” ¹⁵ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow. ¹⁷ Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I had been commanded. ¹⁹ Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?” ²⁰ So I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying: ²¹ Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’ ²² Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners. ²³ Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves. ²⁴ ‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign for you; you will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ²⁵ And you, son of man, know that on the day I take away their stronghold, their pride and joy—the desire of their eyes which uplifted their souls—and their sons and daughters as well, ²⁶ on that day a fugitive will come and tell you the news. ²⁷ On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.

² On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

¹ In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

¹ In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.

¹ In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹ In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁷ In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹ In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹ In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁷ In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”

¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.

¹ So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.

¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

⁸ Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever. ⁹ These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.

⁴ So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.

² Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it. ³ For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

² I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

² Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.

¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

⁹ These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

¹⁰ But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

¹³ Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.”

¹³ Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds. ¹⁴ Line up in formation around Babylon, all you who draw the bow! Shoot at her! Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD.

³ “Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me.

⁶ But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.

⁸ And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

⁹ I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

³ They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’

⁷ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

¹¹ The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel.

² “Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

²⁵ because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”

² “Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

¹² “Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.

² and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs. ³ She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men. ⁴ When the nations heard of him, he was trapped in their pit. With hooks they led him away to the land of Egypt. ⁵ When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. ⁶ He prowled among the lions, and became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men. ⁷ He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring. ⁸ Then the nations set out against him from the provinces on every side. They spread their net over him; he was trapped in their pit. ⁹ With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁰ Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters. ¹¹ It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage. ¹² But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them. ¹³ Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴ Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”

⁴⁹ Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”

⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.

⁴ In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”

¹² At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.

¹⁰ He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

⁵¹ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. ²¹ Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. ²² As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

² You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones. ³ You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

² For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

⁶ There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.

¹⁰ There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.

²⁴ The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵ Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.

⁴⁷ Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.

⁹ Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high. ¹⁰ Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

¹⁶ I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’ ¹⁷ This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats.

²⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

²⁰ But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

¹⁶ So Joshua arose early the next morning and had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷ He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward, and the family of Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸ And he had the family of Zabdi come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.”

⁴⁰ Then Saul said to all Israel, “You stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other side.” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. ⁴¹ So Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have You not answered Your servant this day? If the fault is with me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim; but if the fault is with the men of Israel, respond with Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected, but the people were cleared of the charge. ⁴² Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.

² David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁴ and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

⁵ And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone! ⁶ Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

⁶ You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead. ⁷ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it. ⁸ You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD. ⁹ I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

² “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations

⁶ See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. ⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. ⁸ You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.

¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁷ Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols. ³⁸ They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹ On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house. ⁴⁰ Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry. ⁴¹ You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil, ⁴² accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head. ⁴³ Then I said of her who had grown old in adulteries: ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is!’ ⁴⁴ And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

⁹ Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.

¹¹ Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed. ¹² It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire. ¹³ Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.

³ They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

¹¹ On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.

⁷ “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

² The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

¹ Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.

¹⁰ Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

⁷ When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them. ⁸ Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.

⁶ I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.

²⁴ And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.

¹³ And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.

¹⁶ but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

²⁴ You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

¹⁹ Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

¹⁸ O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.

⁹ The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

²¹ For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

³⁴ Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things

¹⁵ Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.

²² Then the generation to come—your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land—will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it. ²³ All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger. ²⁴ So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ ²⁵ And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them. ²⁷ Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book. ²⁸ The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’

²¹ They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding. ²² For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

¹⁷ because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’

²⁵ because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched.’

¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. ¹⁷ So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,

¹⁸ The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

²⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.

¹ Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go. ² If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’ ³ I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴ I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁸ And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹ Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”

¹³ And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, in My zeal have spoken.

¹⁷ “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose! ¹⁸ Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

³⁷ therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. ³⁸ And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

³⁰ I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. ³¹ So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

⁴⁵ But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹ Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. ² The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.” ³ And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. ⁶ I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.

⁵ For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶ Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup. ⁷ As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ⁹ Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. ¹⁰ In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹⁶ saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!

³³ For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

⁹ Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

³¹ So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹² Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! ³⁵ Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

⁷ And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare. ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

⁷ In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

²⁰ And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that flowed from it rose as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

⁶ For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”

¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.

⁸ But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

³ O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.

⁵ I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

¹⁰ The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

²⁵ I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.

⁴ when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

⁹ Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’

²⁹ And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

¹⁰ Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”

¹⁸ But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”

⁸ The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

¹³ He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.

³⁸ And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹⁵ I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. ¹⁶ And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’” ¹⁷ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. ²¹ Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. ²² As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’” ²³ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁶ They will strip off your clothes and take your fine jewelry. ²⁷ So I will put an end to your indecency and prostitution, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’

⁴⁷ The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. ⁴⁸ So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your behavior.

²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

¹¹ I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds. ¹² I will cut the sorceries from your hand, and you will have no fortune-tellers. ¹³ I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands. ¹⁴ I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.

¹ “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. ² And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

⁸ And in all the land, declares the LORD, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but a third will be left in it. ⁹ This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

¹ “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. ⁶ And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

⁵ Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.

¹³ You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.

⁹ You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself. ¹⁰ You are wearied by your many journeys, but you did not say, “There is no hope!” You found renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak.

¹³ “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

³ O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

⁵ Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

¹⁴ Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁵ They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁶ “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! ¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

⁵⁸ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”

¹³ Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.

¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.

¹ Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

¹³ Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

¹⁸ What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. ¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

¹⁴ Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

⁴ What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit? ⁵ Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. ⁶ I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

¹³ But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts. ¹⁴ So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day. ¹⁵ The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies. ¹⁶ For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up. ¹⁷ Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

²⁸ All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt. ²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged. ³⁰ They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

³ “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. ⁴ And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear. ⁵ The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. ⁶ Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ⁷ ‘But to your own harm, you have not listened to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so you have provoked Me to anger with the works of your hands.’

¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

¹⁸ Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

⁴² So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

²⁴ “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

³⁶ Then the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols. ³⁸ They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹ On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house. ⁴⁰ Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry. ⁴¹ You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil, ⁴² accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head. ⁴³ Then I said of her who had grown old in adulteries: ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is!’ ⁴⁴ And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands. ⁴⁶ This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring a mob against them and consign them to terror and plunder.

¹¹ Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.

¹ When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed, as well as the crimes of Samaria. For they practice deceit and thieves break in; bandits raid in the streets.

⁹ Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know. ¹⁰ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him. ¹¹ So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria. ¹² As they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together. ¹³ Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me. ¹⁴ They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me. ¹⁵ Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they plot evil against Me. ¹⁶ They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.

⁶ “I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ⁷ “I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered. ⁸ People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ¹⁰ “I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ¹¹ “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ¹² “Therefore, that is what I will do to you, O Israel, and since I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

² She heeded no voice; she accepted no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God.

⁷ I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction.’ Then her dwelling place would not be cut off despite all for which I punished her. But they rose early to corrupt all their deeds.

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.

⁷ So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ⁸ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”

⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

¹ Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

¹¹ Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”

¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

²⁹ Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”

⁹ For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

¹¹ so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

¹⁸ “Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”

¹⁴ I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”

²⁰ The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.

¹¹ Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

⁴ I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

⁹ I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes the blow.

¹⁰ But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

⁴³ Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

³⁰ Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.

²⁴ They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will punish you according to their own standards.

²⁹ They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity

¹⁹ I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.

²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

² So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

¹⁸ Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large bribe lead you astray.

¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

¹⁰ I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹⁸ Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.

¹⁰ Do not weep for the dead king; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.

¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’

¹⁸ The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest.

¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I had been commanded.

²¹ Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’ ²² Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners. ²³ Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves. ²⁴ ‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign for you; you will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ²⁵ And you, son of man, know that on the day I take away their stronghold, their pride and joy—the desire of their eyes which uplifted their souls—and their sons and daughters as well,

¹³ Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited.

⁴⁵ A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’

¹⁰ The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.

³⁰ But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

⁹ I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

¹⁰ “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

⁴ “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.” ⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD. ⁶ “Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them. ⁷ No food will be offered to comfort those who mourn the dead; not even a cup of consolation will be given for the loss of a father or mother.

²² Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners. ²³ Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.

⁴ They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.

³ “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”

⁷ Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”

²⁰ But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.

²⁹ What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; ³⁰ those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;

⁹ “Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’

⁷ And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹⁸ When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’

⁷ Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’ ⁸ Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.

¹³ “Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

⁴ One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.

⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty fill His sanctuary.

⁴ Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.

⁸ Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

¹¹ But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

¹¹ But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.

¹⁴ therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.

²¹ For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.

³ For this is what the LORD says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and the mothers who bore them, and the fathers who fathered them in this land: ⁴ “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”

⁶ He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest. ⁷ The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

²⁰ His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them. ²¹ And I will hand these things over as plunder to foreigners and loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile them. ²² I will turn My face away from them, and they will defile My treasured place. Violent men will enter it, and they will defile it.

⁷ Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

²⁵ And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire.

⁴⁷ The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.

¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.

³¹ His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.

¹³ where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵ His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.

⁶⁴ His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

³ at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.

¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow. ¹⁷ Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”

⁹ And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die. ¹⁰ And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”

³⁹ Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.

¹¹ We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹⁷ So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

¹⁰ Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’

² When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. ⁵ After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person. ⁷ When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

¹⁸ Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

³ Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,

¹⁵ Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

³ Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

⁷ The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

²⁷ The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

⁶ And as they watch, lift your bags to your shoulder and take them out at dusk; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

¹¹ You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here, so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives.

²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

⁵ I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

⁷ therefore I will indeed stretch out My hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.’

¹¹ So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.’

¹⁴ I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.’

¹⁷ I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’”

² When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.” ³ So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. ⁴ Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. ⁵ And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” ⁶ Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. ⁷ Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.” ⁸ After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. ⁹ And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to idols.” ² So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. ³ Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.” ⁴ For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

¹³ This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses.

¹⁹ I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.

²⁹ And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

² Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

² From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

¹ A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” ² Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built up as a city united together, ⁴ where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. ⁵ For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David. ⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper. ⁷ May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.” ⁸ For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” ⁹ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

²² So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.

²¹ Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’

¹² That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. ¹³ When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out. ¹⁴ Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli. ¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see. ¹⁶ “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked. ¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁵ the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!” ²² Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

¹¹ “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” ¹² But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²¹ In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

²² Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

¹⁵ For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,