Today's Reading

¹"Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

²and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

⁵"'Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.

⁶He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁷He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

⁹They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰"'Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

¹²But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.' This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."

¹It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.

²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."'

⁴Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

⁵and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, 'I am the Lord your God';

⁶in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

⁷I said to them, 'Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.'

⁸But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they each didn't throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰"'"So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.

¹²Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹⁴But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵"'"Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

¹⁶because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸"'"I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

¹⁹I am the Lord your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;

²⁰and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'

²¹But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

²²Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.

²³Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

²⁴because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

²⁵Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;

²⁶and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."'

²⁷"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹Then I said to them, 'What does the high place where you go mean?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."'

³⁰"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you play the prostitute after their abominations?

³¹And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you;

³²and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, 'We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'

³³As I live," says the Lord God, "surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:

³⁴and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

³⁵and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

³⁶Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you," says the Lord God.

³⁷"I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

³⁸and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord."

³⁹"'As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: "Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

⁴⁰For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel," says the Lord God, "there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

⁴¹As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

⁴²You shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

⁴³There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

⁴⁴You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel," says the Lord God.'"

⁴⁵The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁴⁶"Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

⁴⁷and tell the forest of the South, 'Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

⁴⁸All flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."'"

⁴⁹Then I said, "Ah Lord God! They say of me, 'Isn't he a speaker of parables?'"

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

²"Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

³and tell the land of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more."'

⁶"Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes.

⁷It shall be, when they tell you, 'Why do you sigh?' that you shall say, 'Because of the news, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord God.'"

⁸The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁹"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord: Say, "A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;

¹⁰it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? The rod of my son, it condemns every tree.

¹¹It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer."'

¹²Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.

¹³For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more?" says the Lord God.

¹⁴"You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms.

¹⁵I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: Ah! It is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.

¹⁶'Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.'

¹⁷I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, the Lord, have spoken it."

¹⁸The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

¹⁹"Also, you son of man, appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem, the fortified.

²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.

²²In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.

²³It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.

²⁴"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵"'You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

²⁶thus says the Lord God: "Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high."

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.'

²⁸"You, son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, "A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;

²⁹while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you.

³¹I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.

³²You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be remembered no more: for I, the Lord, have spoken it."'"

¹For the Law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.

²Or else would not they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins?

³But in those sacrifices there is yearly reminder of sins.

⁴For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

⁵Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you prepared a body for me;

⁶You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

⁷Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.'"

⁸Previously saying, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you did not desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those which are offered according to the Law),

⁹then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,

¹⁰by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,

¹²but this one, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

¹³from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet.

¹⁴For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

¹⁶"This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'" then he says,

¹⁷"I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."

¹⁸Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

¹⁹Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

²¹and having a great priest over the house of God,

²²let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,

²³let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.

²⁴Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

²⁵not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

²⁶For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

²⁸A man who disregards the Law of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.

²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay." Again, "The Lord will judge his people."

³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings;

³³partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so.

³⁴For you both had compassion on them that were in chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one.

³⁵Therefore do not throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.

³⁶For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

³⁷"In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.

³⁸But my righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.

¹The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²In rebellion, a land has many rulers, but order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.

³A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

⁴Those who forsake the Law praise the wicked; but those who keep the Law contend with them.

⁵Evil men do not understand justice; but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

⁶Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.

⁷Whoever keeps the Law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.

⁸He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

⁹He who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹⁰Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.

¹¹The rich man is wise in his own eyes; but the poor who has understanding sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

¹³He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.

¹⁶A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.

¹⁷A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.

¹⁸Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.

¹⁹One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²²A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn't know that poverty waits for him.

²³One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.

²⁴Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, "It's not wrong." He is a partner with a destroyer.

²⁵One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in the Lord will prosper.

²⁶One who trusts in himself is a fool; but one who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

²⁷One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.