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Punishment for Wickedness Foretold
7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord [a]God to the land of Israel, ‘An (A)end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 4 For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will (B)bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will (C)know that I am the Lord!’
5 “Thus says the Lord [b]God, ‘A (D)disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! 6 An end is coming; the end has come! It has (E)awakened against you; behold, it has come! 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The (F)time has come, the (G)day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will shortly (H)pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; (I)judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 9 My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will [c]repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting.
10 ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the (J)rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11 Violence [d]has grown into a rod of (K)wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their (L)wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12 The (M)time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the (N)buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for (O)wrath is against all their multitude. 13 Indeed, the seller will not [e](P)regain [f]what he sold as long as [g]they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not [h]be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.
14 ‘They have (Q)blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all [i]their multitude. 15 The (R)sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 16 Even when their survivors (S)escape, they will be on the mountains like (T)doves of the valleys, all of them [j](U)mourning, each over his own iniquity. 17 All (V)hands will hang limp and all knees will [k]become like water. 18 They will (W)gird themselves with sackcloth and (X)shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and (Y)baldness on all their heads. 19 They will (Z)fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their (AA)silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their [l]appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.
The Temple Profaned
20 They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and (AB)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 I will give it into the hands of the (AC)foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22 I will also turn My (AD)face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.
23 ‘(AE)Make the chain, for the land is full of [m](AF)bloody crimes and the city is (AG)full of violence. 24 Therefore, I will bring the worst of the (AH)nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the (AI)pride of the strong ones cease, and their (AJ)holy places will be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek (AK)peace, but there will be none. 26 (AL)Disaster will come upon disaster and (AM)rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a (AN)vision from a prophet, but the (AO)law will be lost from the priest and (AP)counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be (AQ)clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will [n]tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem
8 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord [o]God fell on me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of [p]a man; from His loins and downward there was the (AR)appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance (AS)of [q]glowing metal. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the (AT)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the [r]north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which (AU)provokes to jealousy, was located. 4 And behold, the (AV)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, (AW)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this (AX)idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great (AY)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now (AZ)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were (BA)seventy (BB)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his (BC)censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘(BD)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has (BE)forsaken the land.’” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”
14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the (BF)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their (BG)backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and (BH)they were [s]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have (BI)filled the land with violence and (BJ)provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and (BK)though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
The Vision of Slaughter
9 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud (BL)voice saying, “Draw near, [t]O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was (BM)a certain man clothed in linen with a [u]writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the (BN)glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the [v]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. 4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a (BO)mark on the foreheads of the men who (BP)sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6 [w]Utterly (BQ)slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not (BR)touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall (BS)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the [x]elders who were before the [y]temple. 7 And He said to them, “(BT)Defile the [z]temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I (BU)fell on my face and cried out [aa]saying, “(BV)Alas, Lord [ab]God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel [ac]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is (BW)filled with blood and the city is (BX)full of perversion; for (BY)they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 But as for Me, (BZ)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but (CA)I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”
11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the [ad]writing case [ae]reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest (A)taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in (B)things pertaining to God, in order to (C)offer both gifts and sacrifices (D)for sins; 2 [a](E)he can deal gently with the (F)ignorant and (G)misguided, since he himself also is [b](H)beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices (I)for sins, (J)as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And (K)no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even (L)as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ (M)did not glorify Himself so as to become a (N)high priest, but He who (O)said to Him,
“(P)You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;
6 just as He says also in another passage,
7 [c]In the days of His flesh, [d](S)He offered up both prayers and supplications with (T)loud crying and tears to the One (U)able to save Him [e]from death, and He [f]was heard because of His (V)piety. 8 Although He was (W)a Son, He learned (X)obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made (Y)perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as (Z)a high priest according to (AA)the order of Melchizedek.
11 Concerning [g]him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though [h]by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you (AB)the [i](AC)elementary principles of the (AD)oracles of God, and you have come to need (AE)milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an (AF)infant. 14 But solid food is for (AG)the mature, who because of practice have their senses (AH)trained to (AI)discern good and evil.
The Lord’s Wonderful Works in Behalf of Israel.
105 Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, (B)call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, (D)sing praises to Him;
[a](E)Speak of all His [b]wonders.
3 [c]Glory in His holy name;
Let the (F)heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
4 Seek the Lord and (G)His strength;
(H)Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His [d](I)wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the (J)judgments [e]uttered by His mouth,
6 O seed of (K)Abraham, His servant,
O sons of (L)Jacob, His (M)chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
His (N)judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has (O)remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a (P)thousand generations,
9 The (Q)covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His (R)oath to Isaac.
10 Then He (S)confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “(T)To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the [f](U)portion of your inheritance,”
12 When they were only a (V)few men in number,
Very few, and (W)strangers in it.
13 And they wandered about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14 He (X)permitted no man to oppress them,
And He (Y)reproved kings for their sakes:
15 “(Z)Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.