Ezekiel 5
Jerusalem’s Desolation Prophesied
1 “As for you, son of man, take for yourself a sword sharper than a barber’s razor. Acquire it for yourself, and shave your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair.†
2 One-fourth you shall burn in the midst of the city, at the completion of the days of the confinement. Then you shall take one-fourth and burn it up in its midst, and one-fourth you shall cut up around about all sides with the sword; and one-fourth you shall scatter to the wind. Thus I will unsheathe a sword after them.
3 You shall also take from there a small amount of hair and wrap it in the fold of your garment.
4 Then from this amount, again take some and throw it into the midst of the fire and burn it in the fire. Fire shall come forth from it, and you shall say to all the house of Israel,
5 ‘Thus says the Lord: “This is Jerusalem; I have put her in the midst of the surrounding countries, in the midst of the nations.†
6 So you shall speak of My ordinances to the lawless one among the nations, and my laws to the lawless one from the surrounding countries; because they rejected My ordinances, and have not walked in My laws.”
7 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Because your opportunity for lawlessness is taken from the nations around you, and you have not walked in my laws, nor kept My ordinances—indeed you have not even kept the ordinances of the nations around you—”†
8 therefore, thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will execute judgment in your midst in the sight of the nations.
9 I will do among you what I have not done, and the likes of which I will not do again, because of all your abominations.
10 Therefore fathers shall eat their children in your midst, and children shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain, I will scatter to every wind.
11 Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord, “surely, because you defiled My holy things with all your abominations, I also will reject you. My eye will not spare, nor will I have any mercy.
12 One-fourth of you shall be destroyed by death, and one-fourth shall be consumed in your midst by famine. One-fourth of you I will scatter to every wind, and one-fourth of you will fall by the sword all around you, for I will unsheathe a sword after them.
13 Thus shall My anger and My wrath be accomplished against them. You will come to know this because I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal, when I accomplish My anger against them.
14 I will make you desolate, along with your daughters around you, in the sight of everyone who travels through.
15 You shall be mournful and miserable among the nations around you when I execute judgments among you, in the vengeance of my anger. I, the Lord, have spoken.
16 When I send forth against them My arrows of famine, and they are extinguished, I also shall break your supply of bread.
17 So I will send against you famine and evil beasts and shall punish you. Death and blood shall pass through upon you, and I will bring a sword against you, all about you. I, the Lord, have spoken.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 6
The Lord Condemns Idolatry
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,†
2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.
3 You shall say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord to the mountains and hills, and to the ravines and valleys: “Behold, I shall bring a sword against you and destroy your high places.
4 Your altars, along with your sacred precincts, shall be broken down. I shall cast down your wounded in the presence of your idols,
5 and scatter your bones all around your altars.
6 In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be abolished, so as to destroy your altars and break your idols in pieces and remove your sacred precincts.
7 “The wounded shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord,
8 when some among you are escaping from the sword among the nations and when you are scattered among the countries.
9 Then those of you who escape among the nations where they were taken captive will remember Me. For I swore an oath against their heart, which went away from Me and committed fornication, and against their eyes, which committed fornication after their practices. They shall mourn over themselves amid all their abominations.
10 Then they shall come to know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”
11 ‘Thus says the Lord: “Clap your hands and stamp your feet, and say, ‘Good, well done! Good, well done!’ Because of all the abominations of the house of Israel, they shall fall by the sword, by death, and by famine.
12 He who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is far off shall die an untimely death; and he who is in the confinement shall perish by famine. Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon them.
13 Then you shall come to know that I am the Lord, when your wounded are among your idols, all around your altars, on every high hill, and under every shady tree where they offered a sweet aroma to their idols.
14 So I will stretch out My hand against them, and appoint the land for destruction and ruin, from the desert of Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
Psalms 111
1 Alleluia. †Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; He will delight exceedingly in His commandments;
2 His seed shall be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright shall be blessed;
3 Glory and riches shall be in his house, And his righteousness continues unto ages of ages.
4 For the upright, light springs up in darkness, For he is merciful, compassionate, and righteous.
5 A good man is compassionate and lends; He will manage his words with judgment,
6 For he shall be unshaken forever; A righteous man shall be in everlasting remembrance.
7 He shall not be afraid because of an evil report; His heart is prepared to hope in the Lord.
8 His heart is established; he is not afraid As he surveys his enemies.
9 He dispersed; he gave to the poor; His righteousness continues unto ages of ages; His horn shall be exalted with glory.
10 The sinner shall see this, and be angry; He shall gnash his teeth, and be consumed; The desire of sinners shall perish.
Psalms 112
1 Alleluia. †Praise the Lord, O you servants; Praise the name of the Lord;
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord From this present time and unto the ages;
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, Praise the name of the Lord.
4 The Lord is high above all the nations; His glory is above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells in the highest,
6 And who looks upon the humble things In heaven and on earth?
7 He raises the poor man from the earth And lifts up the poor from the dunghills
8 So as to seat him with rulers, With the rulers of His people;
9 He settles the barren woman in a home, To be a joyful mother of children.
Proverbs of Solomon 24
19 Do not rejoice in evildoers, Nor envy sinners;
20 For there is no future for evil men, And the lamp of the ungodly shall be put out.
21 Fear God, my son, and the king, And disobey neither of them;
22 For suddenly they will take retribution on the ungodly, And who will know the punishments of both?
23 A son who guards the word will be free from destruction, For he receives it fully.
Hebrews 11
Faith’s Hope
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.†
2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Faith from Creation to the Flood
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him” ; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Faith from Abraham to Joseph
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.†
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.†
22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.