Ezekiel 24

The Sign of the Cooking Pot
 ¹  On January 15, [1]  during the ninth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, this message came to me from the LORD:  ²  "Son of man, write down today's date, because on this very day the king of Babylon is beginning his attack against Jerusalem.  ³  Then give these rebels an illustration with this message from the Sovereign LORD:

"Put a pot on the fire,
  and pour in some water.
 ⁴  Fill it with choice pieces of meat—
  the rump and the shoulder
  and all the most tender cuts.
 ⁵  Use only the best sheep from the flock,
  and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot.
Bring the pot to a boil,
  and cook the bones along with the meat.

 ⁶  "Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
What sorrow awaits Jerusalem,
  the city of murderers!
She is a cooking pot
  whose corruption can't be cleaned out.
Take the meat out in random order,
  for no piece is better than another.
 ⁷  For the blood of her murders
  is splashed on the rocks.
It isn't even spilled on the ground,
  where the dust could cover it!
 ⁸  So I will splash her blood on a rock
  for all to see,
an expression of my anger
  and vengeance against her.

 ⁹  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
What sorrow awaits Jerusalem,
  the city of murderers!
  I myself will pile up the fuel beneath her.
 ¹⁰  Yes, heap on the wood!
  Let the fire roar to make the pot boil.
Cook the meat with many spices,
  and afterward burn the bones.
 ¹¹  Now set the empty pot on the coals.
  Heat it red hot!
  Burn away the filth and corruption.
 ¹²  But it's hopeless;
  the corruption can't be cleaned out.
  So throw it into the fire.
 ¹³  Your impurity is your lewdness
  and the corruption of your idolatry.
I tried to cleanse you,
  but you refused.
So now you will remain in your filth
  until my fury against you has been satisfied.

   ¹⁴  "I, the LORD, have spoken! The time has come, and I won't hold back. I will not change my mind, and I will have no pity on you. You will be judged on the basis of all your wicked actions, says the Sovereign LORD."

The Death of Ezekiel's Wife
 ¹⁵  Then this message came to me from the LORD:  ¹⁶  "Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears.  ¹⁷  Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends."
   ¹⁸  So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do.  ¹⁹  Then the people asked, "What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?"
   ²⁰  So I said to them, "A message came to me from the LORD,  ²¹  and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judea will be slaughtered by the sword.  ²²  Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends.  ²³  Your heads will remain covered, and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins. You will mourn privately for all the evil you have done.  ²⁴  Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD."
   ²⁵  Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart's desire, their dearest treasure—I will also take away their sons and daughters.  ²⁶  And on that day a survivor from Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what has happened.  ²⁷  And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 25

A Message for Ammon
 ¹  Then this message came to me from the LORD:  ²  "Son of man, turn and face the land of Ammon and prophesy against its people.  ³  Give the Ammonites this message from the Sovereign LORD: Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD! Because you cheered when my Temple was defiled, mocked Israel in her desolation, and laughed at Judah as she went away into exile,  ⁴  I will allow nomads from the eastern deserts to overrun your country. They will set up their camps among you and pitch their tents on your land. They will harvest all your fruit and drink the milk from your livestock.  ⁵  And I will turn the city of Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and all the land of the Ammonites into a resting place for sheep and goats. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
   ⁶  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you clapped and danced and cheered with glee at the destruction of my people,  ⁷  I will raise my fist of judgment against you. I will give you as plunder to many nations. I will cut you off from being a nation and destroy you completely. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

A Message for Moab
 ⁸  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the people of Moab have said that Judah is just like all the other nations,  ⁹  I will open up their eastern flank and wipe out their glorious frontier towns—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.  ¹⁰  And I will hand Moab over to nomads from the eastern deserts, just as I handed over Ammon. Yes, the Ammonites will no longer be counted among the nations.  ¹¹  In the same way, I will bring my judgment down on the Moabites. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

A Message for Edom
 ¹²  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Edom have sinned greatly by avenging themselves against the people of Judah.  ¹³  Therefore, says the Sovereign LORD, I will raise my fist of judgment against Edom. I will wipe out its people and animals with the sword. I will make a wasteland of everything from Teman to Dedan.  ¹⁴  I will accomplish this by the hand of my people of Israel. They will carry out my vengeance with anger, and Edom will know that this vengeance is from me. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!

A Message for Philistia
 ¹⁵  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Philistia have acted against Judah out of bitter revenge and long-standing contempt.  ¹⁶  Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will raise my fist of judgment against the land of the Philistines. I will wipe out the Kerethites and utterly destroy the people who live by the sea.  ¹⁷  I will execute terrible vengeance against them to punish them for what they have done. And when I have inflicted my revenge, they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 26

A Message for Tyre
 ¹  On February 3, during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, [1]  this message came to me from the LORD:  ²  "Son of man, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying, `Ha! She who was the gateway to the rich trade routes to the east has been broken, and I am the heir! Because she has been made desolate, I will become wealthy!'
   ³  "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am your enemy, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the waves of the sea crashing against your shoreline.  ⁴  They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down its towers. I will scrape away its soil and make it a bare rock!  ⁵  It will be just a rock in the sea, a place for fishermen to spread their nets, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign LORD. Tyre will become the prey of many nations,  ⁶  and its mainland villages will be destroyed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
   ⁷  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I will bring King Nebuchadnezzar [7]  of Babylon against Tyre. He is king of kings and brings his horses, chariots, charioteers, and great army.  ⁸  First he will destroy your mainland villages. Then he will attack you by building a siege wall, constructing a ramp, and raising a roof of shields against you.  ⁹  He will pound your walls with battering rams and demolish your towers with sledgehammers.  ¹⁰  The hooves of his horses will choke the city with dust, and the noise of the charioteers and chariot wheels will shake your walls as they storm through your broken gates.  ¹¹  His horsemen will trample through every street in the city. They will butcher your people, and your strong pillars will topple.
   ¹²  "They will plunder all your riches and merchandise and break down your walls. They will destroy your lovely homes and dump your stones and timbers and even your dust into the sea.  ¹³  I will stop the music of your songs. No more will the sound of harps be heard among your people.  ¹⁴  I will make your island a bare rock, a place for fishermen to spread their nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken. Yes, the Sovereign LORD has spoken!

The Effect of Tyre's Destruction
 ¹⁵  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre: The whole coastline will tremble at the sound of your fall, as the screams of the wounded echo in the continuing slaughter.  ¹⁶  All the seaport rulers will step down from their thrones and take off their royal robes and beautiful clothing. They will sit on the ground trembling with horror at your destruction.  ¹⁷  Then they will wail for you, singing this funeral song:

"O famous island city,
  once ruler of the sea,
  how you have been destroyed!
Your people, with their naval power,
  once spread fear around the world.
 ¹⁸  Now the coastlands tremble at your fall.
  The islands are dismayed as you disappear.

   ¹⁹  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will make Tyre an uninhabited ruin, like many others. I will bury you beneath the terrible waves of enemy attack. Great seas will swallow you.  ²⁰  I will send you to the pit to join those who descended there long ago. Your city will lie in ruins, buried beneath the earth, like those in the pit who have entered the world of the dead. You will have no place of respect here in the land of the living.  ²¹  I will bring you to a terrible end, and you will exist no more. You will be looked for, but you will never again be found. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"

<<  24:1 Hebrew On the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on January 15, 588 <%=ftSC%>B.C.; also see note on 1:1.
<<  26:1 Hebrew In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar year. Since an element is missing in the date formula here, scholars have reconstructed this probable reading: In the eleventh [month of the twelfth] year, on the first day of the month. This reading would put this message on February 3, 585 <%=ftSC%>B.C.; also see note on 1:1.
<<  26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.

1 Peter 2

 ¹  So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.  ²  Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment ...  ³  now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.

Living Stones for God's House
 ⁴  You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.    ⁵  And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.  ⁶  As the Scriptures say,

"I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, [6] 
  chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
  will never be disgraced." [6] 

 ⁷  Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,

"The stone that the builders rejected
  has now become the cornerstone." [7] 

 ⁸  And,

"He is the stone that makes people stumble,
  the rock that makes them fall." [8] 

They stumble because they do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
   ⁹  "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light."  ¹⁰  "Once you had no identity as a people;
  now you are God's people.
Once you received no mercy;
  now you have received God's mercy." [10] 

   ¹¹  Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.  ¹²  Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. [12] 

Respecting People in Authority
 ¹³  For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state,  ¹⁴  or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.
   ¹⁵  It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.  ¹⁶  For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.  ¹⁷  Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. [17]  Fear God, and respect the king.

Slaves
 ¹⁸  You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. [18]  Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.  ¹⁹  For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment.  ²⁰  Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
   ²¹  For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered [21]  for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

 ²²  He never sinned,
  nor ever deceived anyone. [22] 
 ²³  He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
  nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
  who always judges fairly.
 ²⁴  He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.  ²⁵  "Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls."

<<  2:5 Greek holy priesthood.
<<  2:6a Greek in Zion. 2:6b Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
<<  2:7 Ps 118:22.
<<  2:8 Isa 8:14.
<<  2:9 Greek a royal priesthood.
<<  2:10 Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.
<<  2:12 Or on the day of visitation.
<<  2:17 Greek love the brotherhood.
<<  2:18 Or because you fear God.
<<  2:21 Some manuscripts read died.
<<  2:22 Isa 53:9.