Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

“And you, (A)O son of man, take a (B)sharp sword. Use it as (C)a barber's razor and (D)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. (E)A third part you shall burn in the fire (F)in the midst of the city, (G)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. (H)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and (I)I will unsheathe the sword after them. (J)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. (K)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

“Thus says the Lord God: (L)This is Jerusalem. I have set her (M)in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness (N)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than (O)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are (P)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, (Q)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, (R)and have not[a] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, (S)am against you. (T)And I will execute judgments[b] in your midst (U)in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you (V)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore (W)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. (X)And I will execute judgments on you, (Y)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, (Z)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, (AA)because you have defiled my sanctuary (AB)with all your detestable things and with all your (AC)abominations, (AD)therefore I will withdraw.[c] (AE)My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 (AF)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; (AG)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; (AH)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

13 (AI)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that (AJ)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—(AK)when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you (AL)a desolation and (AM)an object of reproach among (AN)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be[d] a reproach and a taunt, a warning (AO)and a horror, to (AP)the nations all around you, (AQ)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and (AR)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you[e] (AS)the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon (AT)you and break your supply[f] of bread. 17 I will send famine and (AU)wild beasts against you, (AV)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and (AW)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Judgment Against Idolatry

The word of the Lord came to me: (AX)“Son of man, (AY)set your face toward (AZ)the mountains of Israel, and (BA)prophesy against them, and say, (BB)You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to (BC)the mountains and (BD)the hills, to (BE)the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, (BF)and I will destroy your high places. (BG)Your altars shall become desolate, and your (BH)incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. (BI)And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, (BJ)and I will scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you dwell, (BK)the cities shall be waste and (BL)the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,[g] your idols broken and destroyed, your (BM)incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

(BN)“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations (BO)some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, then those of you who escape (BP)will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how (BQ)I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes (BR)that go whoring after their idols. (BS)And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord. (BT)I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

11 Thus says the Lord God: (BU)“Clap your hands (BV)and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, (BW)for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 (BX)He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. (BY)Thus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, (BZ)when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, (CA)on every high hill, (CB)on all the mountaintops, (CC)under every green tree, and under (CD)every leafy oak, wherever (CE)they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14 And (CF)I will stretch out my hand against them and (CG)make the land desolate and waste, (CH)in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to (CI)Riblah.[h] Then (CJ)they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Day of the Wrath of the Lord

The word of the Lord came to me: “And you, (CK)O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: (CL)An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.[i] Now (CM)the end is upon you, and (CN)I will send my anger upon you; (CO)I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. (CP)And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but (CQ)I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. (CR)Then you will know that I am the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord God: Disaster (CS)after disaster![j] Behold, it comes. (CT)An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. (CU)Your doom[k] has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. (CV)The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not (CW)of joyful shouting on the mountains. Now I will soon (CX)pour out my wrath upon you, and (CY)spend my anger against you, (CZ)and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. (DA)And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. (DB)Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.

10 (DC)“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! (DD)Your doom has come; (DE)the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 (DF)Violence has grown up into (DG)a rod of wickedness. (DH)None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.[l] 12 (DI)The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not (DJ)the buyer rejoice, nor (DK)the seller mourn, (DL)for wrath is upon all their multitude.[m] 13 For (DM)the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. (DN)For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.[n]

14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, (DO)for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 (DP)The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. (DQ)He who is in the field dies by the sword, (DR)and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 (DS)And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like (DT)doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17 (DU)All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 (DV)They put on sackcloth, and (DW)horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and (DX)baldness on all their heads. 19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. (DY)Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. (DZ)For it was (EA)the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 (EB)His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and (EC)they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore (ED)I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of (EE)foreigners for prey, (EF)and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and (EG)they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and (EH)they shall profane my treasured[o] place. Robbers shall enter (EI)and profane it.

23 (EJ)“Forge a chain![p] (EK)For the land is full of bloody crimes (EL)and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring (EM)the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. (EN)I will put an end to the pride of the strong, (EO)and their holy places[q] shall be profaned. 25 (EP)When anguish comes, (EQ)they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 (ER)Disaster comes upon disaster; (ES)rumor follows rumor. (ET)They seek a vision from the prophet, while (EU)the law[r] perishes from the priest and (EV)counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way (EW)I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, (EX)and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not
  2. Ezekiel 5:8 The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgments, depending on the context
  3. Ezekiel 5:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down
  4. Ezekiel 5:15 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Masoretic Text And it shall be
  5. Ezekiel 5:16 Hebrew them
  6. Ezekiel 5:16 Hebrew staff
  7. Ezekiel 6:6 Or and punished
  8. Ezekiel 6:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts Diblah
  9. Ezekiel 7:2 Or earth
  10. Ezekiel 7:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts (compare Syriac, Targum); most Hebrew manuscripts Disaster! A unique disaster!
  11. Ezekiel 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; also verse 10
  12. Ezekiel 7:11 The meaning of this last Hebrew sentence is uncertain
  13. Ezekiel 7:12 Or abundance; also verses 13, 14
  14. Ezekiel 7:13 The meaning of this last Hebrew sentence is uncertain
  15. Ezekiel 7:22 Or secret
  16. Ezekiel 7:23 Probably refers to an instrument of captivity
  17. Ezekiel 7:24 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew and those who sanctify them
  18. Ezekiel 7:26 Or instruction

Some Will Depart from the Faith

Now (A)the Spirit expressly says that (B)in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to (C)deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of (D)liars whose consciences are seared, (E)who forbid marriage and (F)require abstinence from foods (G)that God created (H)to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For (I)everything created by God is good, and (J)nothing is to be rejected if it is (K)received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy (L)by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

(M)If you put these things before the brothers,[a] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have (N)followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, (O)silly myths. Rather (P)train yourself for godliness; for while (Q)bodily training is of some value, godliness (R)is of value in every way, as (S)it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is (T)trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,[b] because we have our hope set on the living God, (U)who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach (V)these things. 12 (W)Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers (X)an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 (Y)Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you (Z)by prophecy when the council of elders (AA)laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that (AB)all may see your progress. 16 (AC)Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save (AD)both yourself and (AE)your hearers.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 4:6 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
  2. 1 Timothy 4:10 Some manuscripts and suffer reproach
  3. 1 Timothy 4:15 Greek be in them

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