Ezekiel 8

Idolatry in the Temple
 ¹  Then on September 17, [1]  during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign LORD took hold of me.  ²  I saw a figure that appeared to be a man. From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like a burning flame. From the waist up he looked like gleaming amber. [2]   ³  He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the LORD very jealous.  ⁴  Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.
   ⁵  Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I looked, and there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, stood the idol that had made the LORD so jealous.
   ⁶  "Son of man," he said, "do you see what they are doing? Do you see the detestable sins the people of Israel are committing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even more detestable sins than these!"  ⁷  Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall.  ⁸  He said to me, "Now, son of man, dig into the wall." So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway.
   ⁹  "Go in," he said, "and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!"  ¹⁰  So I went in and saw the walls engraved with all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols [10]  worshiped by the people of Israel.  ¹¹  Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.
   ¹²  Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, `The LORD doesn't see us; he has deserted our land!'"  ¹³  Then the LORD added, "Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!"
   ¹⁴  He brought me to the north gate of the LORD's Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz.  ¹⁵  "Have you seen this?" he asked. "But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!"
   ¹⁶  Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the LORD's Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the LORD. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!
   ¹⁷  "Have you seen this, son of man?" he asked. "Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger?  ¹⁸  Therefore, I will respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I will not listen."

Ezekiel 9

The Slaughter of Idolaters
 ¹  Then the LORD thundered, "Bring on the men appointed to punish the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!"  ²  Six men soon appeared from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man dressed in linen, who carried a writer's case at his side. They all went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar.
   ³  Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the LORD called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer's case.  ⁴  He said to him, "Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city."
   ⁵  Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!  ⁶  Kill them all—old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders.
   ⁷  "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with corpses. Go!" So they went and began killing throughout the city.
   ⁸  While they were out killing, I was all alone. I fell face down on the ground and cried out, "O Sovereign LORD! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?"
   ⁹  Then he said to me, "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, `The LORD doesn't see it! The LORD has abandoned the land!'  ¹⁰  So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done."
   ¹¹  Then the man in linen clothing, who carried the writer's case, reported back and said, "I have done as you commanded."

Ezekiel 10

The LORD's Glory Leaves the Temple
 ¹  In my vision I saw what appeared to be a throne of blue lapis lazuli above the crystal surface over the heads of the cherubim.  ²  Then the LORD spoke to the man in linen clothing and said, "Go between the whirling wheels beneath the cherubim, and take a handful of burning coals and scatter them over the city." He did this as I watched.
   ³  The cherubim were standing at the south end of the Temple when the man went in, and the cloud of glory filled the inner courtyard.  ⁴  Then the glory of the LORD rose up from above the cherubim and went over to the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with this cloud of glory, and the courtyard glowed brightly with the glory of the LORD.  ⁵  The moving wings of the cherubim sounded like the voice of God Almighty [5]  and could be heard even in the outer courtyard.
   ⁶  The LORD said to the man in linen clothing, "Go between the cherubim and take some burning coals from between the wheels." So the man went in and stood beside one of the wheels.  ⁷  Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand and took some live coals from the fire burning among them. He put the coals into the hands of the man in linen clothing, and the man took them and went out.  ⁸  (All the cherubim had what looked like human hands under their wings.)
   ⁹  I looked, and each of the four cherubim had a wheel beside him, and the wheels sparkled like beryl.  ¹⁰  All four wheels looked alike and were made the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it.  ¹¹  The cherubim could move in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved. They went straight in the direction they faced, never turning aside.  ¹²  Both the cherubim and the wheels were covered with eyes. The cherubim had eyes all over their bodies, including their hands, their backs, and their wings.  ¹³  I heard someone refer to the wheels as "the whirling wheels."  ¹⁴  Each of the four cherubim had four faces: the first was the face of an ox, [14]  the second was a human face, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
   ¹⁵  Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the same living beings I had seen beside the Kebar River.  ¹⁶  When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved with them. When they lifted their wings to fly, the wheels stayed beside them.  ¹⁷  When the cherubim stopped, the wheels stopped. When they flew upward, the wheels rose up, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
   ¹⁸  Then the glory of the LORD moved out from the door of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim.  ¹⁹  And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the east gate of the LORD's Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.
   ²⁰  These were the same living beings I had seen beneath the God of Israel when I was by the Kebar River. I knew they were cherubim,  ²¹  for each had four faces and four wings and what looked like human hands under their wings.  ²²  And their faces were just like the faces of the beings I had seen at the Kebar, and they traveled straight ahead, just as the others had.

<<  8:1 Hebrew on the fifth day of the sixth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on September 17, 592 <%=ftSC%>B.C.; also see note on 1:1.
<<  8:2 Or like burnished metal.
<<  8:10 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
<<  10:5 Hebrew El-Shaddai.
<<  10:14 Hebrew the face of a cherub; compare 1:10.

Hebrews 13

Concluding Words
 ¹  Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. [1]   ²  Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!  ³  Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
   ⁴  Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
   ⁵  Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."  ⁶  So we can say with confidence, "The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?"    ⁷  Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
   ⁸  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  ⁹  So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God's grace, not from rules about food, which don't help those who follow them.
   ¹⁰  We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle [10]  have no right to eat.  ¹¹  Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp.  ¹²  So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.  ¹³  So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore.  ¹⁴  For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
   ¹⁵  Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.  ¹⁶  And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.    ¹⁷  Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.    ¹⁸  Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.  ¹⁹  And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

 ²⁰  Now may the God of peace—
  who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
  and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
 ²¹  may he equip you with all you need
  for doing his will.
May he produce in you, [21] 
  through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
  All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

   ²²  I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, [22]  to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.
   ²³  I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.
   ²⁴  Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. [24]  The believers from Italy send you their greetings.
   ²⁵  May God's grace be with you all.

<<  13:1 Greek Continue in brotherly love.
<<  13:5 Deut 31:6, 8.
<<  13:6 Ps 118:6.
<<  13:10 Or tent.
<<  13:21 Some manuscripts read in us.
<<  13:22 Greek brothers.
<<  13:24 Greek all of God's holy people.