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First Reading: Ezekiel Chapter 15 and 16Ezekiel 15
15:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, how is the wood of
a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is
wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to
hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns
both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was
not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into
something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the
wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will
I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although
they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set
my face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. 8 I will make the land
desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD."
Ezekiel 16
16:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, confront Jerusalem
with her detestable practices 3 and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says
to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your
father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born
your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor
were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with
pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you
were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 "'Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you
lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" 7 I made you grow like
a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful
of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and
bare.
8 "'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old
enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your
nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares
the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
9 "'I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments
on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on
you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I
adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around
your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful
crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes
were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine
flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because
the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign
LORD.
15 "'But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute.
You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.
16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried
on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur.
17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and
silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with
them. 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered
my oil and incense before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you-the fine
flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat-you offered as fragrant incense
before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.
20 "'And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed
them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 You slaughtered
my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 22 In all your detestable practices
and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you
were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
23 "'Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your
other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine
in every public square. 25 At the head of every street you built your lofty
shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body with increasing promiscuity
to anyone who passed by. 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians,
your lustful neighbors, and provoked me to anger with your increasing promiscuity.
27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave
you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who
were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians
too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied.
29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants,
but even with this you were not satisfied.
30 "'How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do
all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! 31 When you built your mounds
at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square,
you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
32 "'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33
Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing
them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution
you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are
the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
35 "'Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! 36 This is what
the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your
nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable
idols, and because you gave them your children's blood, 37 therefore I am going
to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as
well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and
will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. 38 I
will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed
blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.
39 Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds
and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take
your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 40 They will bring a mob against
you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will
burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women.
I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.
42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away
from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
43 "'Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me
with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done,
declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable
practices?
44 "'Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like
mother, like daughter." 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who
despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters,
who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and
your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north
of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of
you with her daughters, was Sodom. 47 You not only walked in their ways and
copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more
depraved than they. 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your
sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
49 "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were
arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50
They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away
with them as you have seen. 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did.
You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem
righteous by all these things you have done. 52 Bear your disgrace, for you
have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more
vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and
bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 "'However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and
of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, 54 so that
you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them
comfort. 55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her
daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters
will return to what you were before. 56 You would not even mention your sister
Sodom in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. Even
so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the
daughters of the Philistines-all those around you who despise you. 58 You will
bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares
the LORD.
59 "'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you
deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. 60 Yet
I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and
I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember
your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older
than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but
not on the basis of my covenant with you. 62 So I will establish my covenant
with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. 63 Then, when I make atonement
for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again
open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"
Revelation 1
1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants
what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant
John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw-that is, the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this
prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written
in it, because the time is near.
4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and
from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of
the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made
us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and
power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those
who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is,
and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient
endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: "Write
on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned
I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like
a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden
sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as
snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing
in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his
right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged
sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right
hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And
I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take
place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand
and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
EZEKIEL
Part 4 of 4
The last section of Ezekiel is found in chapters 40 to 48
VISION OF THE RESTORED COMMUNITY: THE NEW TEMPLE AND THE NEW LAW
1. Description of the new Temple - Ch 40-43
2. A new service of worship with an ideal ministry and sacrificial system - Ch 44-46
3. Israel reorganized according to tribal divisions - Ch 47-48
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