Today's Reading

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"You, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, 'An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land.

³Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.

⁴My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

⁵"Thus says the Lord God: 'A disaster, a unique disaster; behold, it comes.

⁶An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes.

⁷Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains.

⁸Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.

⁹My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, the Lord, do strike.

¹⁰Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.'

¹¹"Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among them.

¹²The time has come, the day draws near: do not let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.

¹³For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

¹⁴They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude.

¹⁵The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

¹⁶But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.

¹⁷All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

¹⁸They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.

¹⁹They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.

²⁰As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.

²¹I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.

²²My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.

²³"Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

²⁴Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.

²⁵Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

²⁶Disaster shall come upon disaster, and rumor shall follow rumor; and they shall seek a vision from a prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.

²⁷The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord."

¹It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there on me.

²Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

³He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

⁴Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

⁵Then he said to me, "Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north." So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

⁶He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations."

⁷He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

⁸Then he said to me, "Son of man, dig now in the wall": and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.

⁹He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here."

¹⁰So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

¹¹There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

¹²Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, 'The Lord doesn't see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.'"

¹³He said also to me, "You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do."

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these."

¹⁶He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and see, at the door of the Lord's temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the Lord's temple, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

¹⁷Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.

¹⁸Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."

¹Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand."

²Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.

³The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.

⁴The Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst."

⁵To the others he said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him, and strike: do not let your eye spare, neither have pity;

⁶kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but do not come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary." Then they began at the old men that were before the house.

⁷He said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!" They went forth, and struck in the city.

⁸It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, "Ah Lord God! Will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?"

⁹Then he said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, 'The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord doesn't see.'

¹⁰As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head."

¹¹Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, "I have done as you have commanded me."

¹Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection-not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,

²of the teaching of washings, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

³This will we do, if God permits.

⁴For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,

⁶and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.

⁷For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it, and brings forth a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God;

⁸but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

⁹But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.

¹⁰For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

¹¹We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,

¹²that you won't be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises.

¹³For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself,

¹⁴saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."

¹⁵Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

¹⁶For men swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.

¹⁷In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;

¹⁸that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.

¹⁹This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil;

²⁰where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

¹Do not be envious of evil men; neither desire to be with them:

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about mischief.

³Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

⁶for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn't open his mouth in the gate.

⁸One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

¹⁰If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

¹²If you say, "Behold, we did not know this;" doesn't he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:

¹⁴so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place:

¹⁶for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he is overthrown;

¹⁸lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man; and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king. Do not join those who are rebellious:

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly; the destruction from them both-who knows?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him-

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.