Ezekiel 1-3
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was in the midst of the captivity by the River Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month, in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon me.
4 I looked, and behold, a sweeping wind came from the north, and a great cloud was in it, with a surrounding brightness and fire flashing forth from it. In its midst was something like the appearance of amber in the middle of the fire, and a brightness in it. 5 In the midst, there was as it were the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance, and the likeness of a man upon them. 6 Each had four faces, and each had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and their feet were winged. There were sparks like gleaming brass, and their wings were light. 8 The hand of a man was underneath their wings on their four sides. 9 The faces of those four did not turn as they proceeded, and they went with each face opposite the other. 10 This was the likeness of their faces: the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side of the foursome, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle. 11 Their wings were spread out above them. Each had two wings joined together, and two wings covered up their bodies. 12 Each went straight forward wherever the spirit was going, and did not turn back. 13 In the midst of the living creatures there was an appearance as of burning coals of fire, as an appearance of lamps turning among the living creatures. There was the brightness of fire, and out of the fire lightning came forth.
14 I looked and behold, there was one wheel on the earth next to each living creature with its four faces. 15 The appearance of the wheels was like the appearance of beryl, and each of the four had one likeness; and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. 16 They went on their four sides, and did not turn when they went. 17 Neither did their backs turn, and they were high. I saw them, and the backs of all four were full of eyes all around. 18 When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 19 Wherever the cloud happened to be, there was the spirit ready to go. The living creatures went, and the wheels went with them, for the spirit of life was in the wheels. 20 When the living creatures went, the wheels went; when the living creatures came to a stop, the wheels stopped; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up with them, for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
21 The likeness above the heads of the living creatures was like a firmament, like the appearance of crystal, spread out over their wings above. 22 Their wings were outspread underneath the firmament, clapping their wings one to the other, two wings joined to each, and two wings covering up their bodies. 23 I heard the sound of their wings when they went, like the sound of much water; and when they stood still, their wings rested.
24 Then behold, a voice came from above the firmament, above their head. 25 There was as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, and the likeness of a throne upon it. Upon the likeness of the throne there was as it were the appearance of a man above. 26 Then I saw as it were the outward appearance of amber from the appearance of the waist and upward. From the appearance of the waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire with brightness round about. 27 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the condition of the surrounding brightness.
Ezekiel Called as a Prophet to Israel
This was the vision of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. I saw it, and I fell down on my face, and heard the voice of One speaking.
1 Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” 2 The Spirit then came upon me, took me up, raised me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. 3 So He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to the ones provoking Me. They have provoked Me, they and their fathers, up to this very day. 4 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ 5 Now then, if they listen or are put off—for they are a rebellious house—still they will know you are a prophet in their midst.
6 “But you, Son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be dismayed by their looks, for they will swarm and sting you, and crowd against you on every side. You will live in the midst of scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, for they are a house of provocation. 7 You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or are put off, because they are a house of provocation. 8 You, son of man, listen to the One who speaks to you. Do not be one who rebels like the house of provocation, but open your mouth wide, and eat what I give you.”
9 Then I looked, and behold, there was a hand reaching out to me, and the roll of a book was in it. 10 He unrolled it before me, and there written on the inside and the outside were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
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.
Psalm 123
1 An ode of ascents.
“If the Lord had not been with us,”
Let Israel now say,
2 “If the Lord had not been with us,
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their anger raged against us,
4 Then the water would have drowned us;
Our soul would have passed through a torrent,
5 Then our soul would have passed through
A water that is overwhelming.”
6 Blessed is the Lord,
Who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul was delivered like a sparrow
From the snare of the hunters;
The snare was broken, and we were delivered.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 124
1 An ode of ascents.
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;
He who dwells in Jerusalem shall be unshaken forever.
2 The mountains surround her,
And the Lord surrounds His people
From this present time and unto the ages.
3 The Lord will not permit the rod of sinners
To be upon the inheritance of the righteous,
Lest the righteous stretch out
Their hands in lawlessness.
4 Do good, O Lord, to the good,
And to the upright in heart;
5 But those who turn aside to crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead away with the workers of lawlessness.
Peace be upon Israel.
Proverbs 27:21–24
21 He whose eye is fixed is an abomination to the Lord,
And the uninstructed are intemperate with the tongue.
22 Proving by fire is a way of testing for silver and gold,
But a man is tested by the mouth of those who praise him.
23 A lawless heart seeks evil things,
But an upright heart seeks knowledge.
24 If you should whip a man without discernment in the midst of the council and dishonor him,
You would not remove his lack of discernment.
1 John 4:1–19
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Knowing God Through Love
(cf. John 3:16)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Seeing God Through Love
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.