Ezekiel 3
1 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll, and go and speak to the children of Israel.”†
2 So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.
3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, your mouth shall eat and your stomach will be filled with this scroll that is given you.” So I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go! Go to the house of Israel, and speak My words to them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and obscure language, but to the house of Israel.
6 Neither are you sent to many peoples speaking a foreign language or using strange tongues, nor to a people of heavy speech, whose words you would not understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you.†
7 But the house of Israel shall be unwilling to listen to you, because they are unwilling to listen to Me; for all the house of Israel is argumentative and hard-hearted.
8 Behold, I have made your face to be strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your case against their arguments.
9 Your argument shall be continually stronger than a rock. Do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their faces; for they are a house of provocation.”
10 Again He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words I have spoken to you, and listen with your ears.
11 Go! Go to the captives, to the children of your people, and you shall speak to them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ whether they listen or whether they refuse.”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place.”
13 I also perceived the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they clapped one to the other, and the sound of the wheels nearby, and the sound of the earth quaking.†
14 Then the Spirit moved me and raised me up, and I went forth under the impulse of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
15 Thus lifted up, I then entered among the captivity and circulated among those who were dwelling by the River Chebar. I sat there for seven days, holding conversation in their midst.†
Ezekiel Made a Watchman
16 Again it came to pass, after seven days, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17 “Son of man, I made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear a word from My mouth and shall threaten them from Me:†
18 When I say to the lawless, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not give him explicit warning, nor speak to warn the lawless to turn from his ways so he may live, that lawless man shall die in his unrighteousness; but his blood I will require at your hand.
19 However, if you warn the lawless, and he does not turn from his lawlessness, nor from his way, that lawless man shall die in his unrighteousness; but you delivered your soul.
20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits a transgression, and I put him to the test, he shall die, because you did not give him explicit warning. He shall die in his sins, and his righteous deeds which he did shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.†
21 But if you explicitly warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, the righteous man shall live, because you explicitly warned him; and you will deliver your own soul.”
22 Again the hand of the Lord came upon me, and He said to me, “Arise and go out into the plain, and there you will be spoken to.”†
23 So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, just like the vision and just like the glory I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.
24 Then the Spirit came upon me and set me on my feet, and said to me, “Go inside and shut yourself within your house.
25 As for you, son of man, behold, chains are appointed for you, and they will put you in them so you cannot go out from their midst.
26 I shall bind your tongue, and you will become deaf. You will not be for them as a man to convict them, for they are a house of provocation.
27 But when I speak with you, I shall open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who disobeys, let him disobey; for it is a house of provocation.
Psalms 108
21 But You, O Lord, O Lord, deal mercifully with me for Your name’s sake, For Your mercy is good.
22 Save me, for I am poor and needy, And my heart is troubled within me.
23 I was removed like a shadow when it declines; I was shaken off like the locusts.
24 My knees were weak from fasting, And my flesh was changed because of the oil.
25 And I became an object of reproach to them; They saw me; they shook their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God; Save me according to Your mercy;
27 Then let them know this is Your hand, And You, O Lord, did this.
28 They themselves shall curse, but You shall bless; Let those who rise up against me be put to shame, But let Your servant be glad.
29 Let those who falsely accuse me be clothed with shame, And let them be covered with their dishonor like a double cloak.
30 I will give thanks to the Lord abundantly with my mouth, And in the midst of many I will praise Him,
31 Because He stood at the right hand of a poor man, To save me from those who persecute my soul.
Proverbs of Solomon 24
7 Wisdom and good thinking are in the gates of the wise; The wise do not turn away from the mouth of the Lord, But they deliberate with councils;†
8 Death happens to the uninstructed, And a man without discernment shall die in his sins;
9 And uncleanness will pollute a pestilent man In an evil day and a day of tribulation, until he dies.
10 Rescue those being led into death, And saw off the bonds of those being cast out; do not spare them help;†
11 If you say, “I do not know this man,” Know that the Lord knows the hearts of all;
12 And He who formed every breath knows all things, Who will render to each man according to his works.
Hebrews 10
The New Worship Accomplishes God’s Will
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.†
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.†
3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),†
9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The New Worship Gives Boldness
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.†
12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.†
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.