Opening the Road to the Kingdom of God

The Urgency of Slowing Down

Still Standing

1 Samuel 1-7: The Call of a Prophet

Let Your Light Shine by Vance K. Jackson

House of David

How God's Goodness Changes Everything

Politics for People Who Hate Politics

Between Borders

Noah: A Covenant With Humanity

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

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 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="EZK.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">Rebellious Israel Purged</div><div class="p"> 1In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.</div><div class="p"> 2Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3&#8220;Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 4&#8220;Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors 5and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, &#8220;I am the Lord your God.&#8221; 6On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 7And I said to them, &#8220;Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. 9But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. 10Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. 12Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws&#8212;by which the person who obeys them will live&#8212;and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. 14But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 15Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them&#8212;a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands&#8212; 16because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. 17Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. 18I said to their children in the wilderness, &#8220;Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 20Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, &#8220;The person who obeys them will live by them,&#8221; and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, 24because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents&#8217; idols. 25So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; 26I defiled them through their gifts&#8212;the sacrifice of every firstborn&#8212;that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 27&#8220;Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: 28When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; (It is called Bamah#20:29 Bamah means high place. to this day.)</div><div class="s1">Rebellious Israel Renewed</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;Therefore say to the Israelites: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? 31When you offer your gifts&#8212;the sacrifice of your children in the fire&#8212;you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.</div><div class="p"> 32&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;You say, &#8220;We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.&#8221; But what you have in mind will never happen. 33As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 34I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered&#8212;with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 35I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. 36As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 37I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 39&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. 40For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts,#20:40 Or and the gifts of your firstfruits along with all your holy sacrifices. 41I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. 42Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. 43There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 44You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name&#8217;s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Prophecy Against the South</div><div class="p"> 45The word of the Lord came to me: 46&#8220;Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. 47Say to the southern forest: &#8216;Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. 48Everyone will see that I the Lord have kindled it; it will not be quenched.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 49Then I said, &#8220;Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me, &#8216;Isn&#8217;t he just telling parables?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#20:49 In Hebrew texts 20:45-49 is numbered 21:1-5.</div>
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 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="EZK.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">Babylon as God&#8217;s Sword of Judgment</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 21:1-32 is numbered 21:6-37. 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3and say to her: &#8216;This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7And when they ask you, &#8216;Why are you groaning?&#8217; you shall say, &#8216;Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.&#8217; It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8The word of the Lord came to me: 9&#8220;Son of man, prophesy and say, &#8216;This is what the Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;A sword, a sword,</div><div class="q2">sharpened and polished&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 10sharpened for the slaughter,</div><div class="q2">polished to flash like lightning!</div><div class="p">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.</div><div class="q1"> 11&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The sword is appointed to be polished,</div><div class="q2">to be grasped with the hand;</div><div class="q1">it is sharpened and polished,</div><div class="q2">made ready for the hand of the slayer.</div><div class="q1"> 12Cry out and wail, son of man,</div><div class="q2">for it is against my people;</div><div class="q2">it is against all the princes of Israel.</div><div class="q1">They are thrown to the sword</div><div class="q2">along with my people.</div><div class="q1">Therefore beat your breast.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="q1"> 14&#8220;So then, son of man, prophesy</div><div class="q2">and strike your hands together.</div><div class="q1">Let the sword strike twice,</div><div class="q2">even three times.</div><div class="q1">It is a sword for slaughter&#8212;</div><div class="q2">a sword for great slaughter,</div><div class="q2">closing in on them from every side.</div><div class="q1"> 15So that hearts may melt with fear</div><div class="q2">and the fallen be many,</div><div class="q1">I have stationed the sword for slaughter#21:15 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</div><div class="q2">at all their gates.</div><div class="q1">Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,</div><div class="q2">it is grasped for slaughter.</div><div class="q1"> 16Slash to the right, you sword,</div><div class="q2">then to the left,</div><div class="q2">wherever your blade is turned.</div><div class="q1"> 17I too will strike my hands together,</div><div class="q2">and my wrath will subside.</div><div class="q1">I the Lord have spoken.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18The word of the Lord came to me: 19&#8220;Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. 20Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. 22Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. 23It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.</div><div class="p"> 24&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: &#8216;Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do&#8212;because you have done this, you will be taken captive.</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, 26this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. 27A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 28&#8220;And you, son of man, prophesy and say, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;A sword, a sword,</div><div class="q2">drawn for the slaughter,</div><div class="q1">polished to consume</div><div class="q2">and to flash like lightning!</div><div class="q1"> 29Despite false visions concerning you</div><div class="q2">and lying divinations about you,</div><div class="q1">it will be laid on the necks</div><div class="q2">of the wicked who are to be slain,</div><div class="q1">whose day has come,</div><div class="q2">whose time of punishment has reached its climax.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 30&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Let the sword return to its sheath.</div><div class="q2">In the place where you were created,</div><div class="q1">in the land of your ancestry,</div><div class="q2">I will judge you.</div><div class="q1"> 31I will pour out my wrath on you</div><div class="q2">and breathe out my fiery anger against you;</div><div class="q1">I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,</div><div class="q2">men skilled in destruction.</div><div class="q1"> 32You will be fuel for the fire,</div><div class="q2">your blood will be shed in your land,</div><div class="q1">you will be remembered no more;</div><div class="q2">for I the Lord have spoken.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="EZK.22">
 <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1">Judgment on Jerusalem&#8217;s Sins</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2&#8220;Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3and say: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. 9In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10In you are those who dishonor their father&#8217;s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor&#8217;s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father&#8217;s daughter. 12In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. 14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. 16When you have been defiled#22:16 Or When I have allotted you your inheritance in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18&#8220;Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. 19Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: &#8216;Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. 21I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24&#8220;Son of man, say to the land, &#8216;You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.&#8217; 25There is a conspiracy of her princes#22:25 Septuagint; Hebrew prophets within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. 26Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says&#8217;&#8212;when the Lord has not spoken. 29The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="label">23</div><div class="s1">Two Adulterous Sisters</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. 4The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians&#8212;warriors 6clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. 7She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. 8She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. 10They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. 12She too lusted after the Assyrians&#8212;governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. 13I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans#23:14 Or Babylonians portrayed in red, 15with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.#23:15 Or Babylonia; also in verse 16 16As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. 18When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. 19Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.#23:21 Syriac (see also verse 3); Hebrew caressed because of your young breasts</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side&#8212; 23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. 24They will come against you with weapons,#23:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. 25I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. 26They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. 27So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.</div><div class="p"> 28&#8220;For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. 29They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity 30have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.</div><div class="p"> 32&#8220;This is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;You will drink your sister&#8217;s cup,</div><div class="q2">a cup large and deep;</div><div class="q1">it will bring scorn and derision,</div><div class="q2">for it holds so much.</div><div class="q1"> 33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,</div><div class="q2">the cup of ruin and desolation,</div><div class="q2">the cup of your sister Samaria.</div><div class="q1"> 34You will drink it and drain it dry</div><div class="q2">and chew on its pieces&#8212;</div><div class="q2">and you will tear your breasts.</div><div class="m">I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 35&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 36The Lord said to me: &#8220;Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, 37for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them. 38They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths. 39On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house.</div><div class="p"> 40&#8220;They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, applied eye makeup and put on your jewelry. 41You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.</div><div class="p"> 42&#8220;The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, &#8216;Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.&#8217; 44And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.</div><div class="p"> 46&#8220;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder. 47The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.</div><div class="p"> 48&#8220;So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. 49You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch24" data-usfm="EZK.24">
 <div class="label">24</div><div class="s1">Jerusalem as a Cooking Pot</div><div class="p"> 1In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Put on the cooking pot; put it on</div><div class="q2">and pour water into it.</div><div class="q1"> 4Put into it the pieces of meat,</div><div class="q2">all the choice pieces&#8212;the leg and the shoulder.</div><div class="q1">Fill it with the best of these bones;</div><div class="q2"> 5take the pick of the flock.</div><div class="q1">Pile wood beneath it for the bones;</div><div class="q2">bring it to a boil</div><div class="q2">and cook the bones in it.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"> 6&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe to the city of bloodshed,</div><div class="q2">to the pot now encrusted,</div><div class="q2">whose deposit will not go away!</div><div class="q1">Take the meat out piece by piece</div><div class="q2">in whatever order it comes.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 7&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;For the blood she shed is in her midst:</div><div class="q2">She poured it on the bare rock;</div><div class="q1">she did not pour it on the ground,</div><div class="q2">where the dust would cover it.</div><div class="q1"> 8To stir up wrath and take revenge</div><div class="q2">I put her blood on the bare rock,</div><div class="q2">so that it would not be covered.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"> 9&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe to the city of bloodshed!</div><div class="q2">I, too, will pile the wood high.</div><div class="q1"> 10So heap on the wood</div><div class="q2">and kindle the fire.</div><div class="q1">Cook the meat well,</div><div class="q2">mixing in the spices;</div><div class="q2">and let the bones be charred.</div><div class="q1"> 11Then set the empty pot on the coals</div><div class="q2">till it becomes hot and its copper glows,</div><div class="q1">so that its impurities may be melted</div><div class="q2">and its deposit burned away.</div><div class="q1"> 12It has frustrated all efforts;</div><div class="q2">its heavy deposit has not been removed,</div><div class="q2">not even by fire.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Wife Dies</div><div class="p"> 15The word of the Lord came to me: 16&#8220;Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. 17Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.</div><div class="p"> 19Then the people asked me, &#8220;Won&#8217;t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20So I said to them, &#8220;The word of the Lord came to me: 21Say to the people of Israel, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary&#8212;the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. 22And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. 23You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of#24:23 Or away in your sins and groan among yourselves. 24Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart&#8217;s desire, and their sons and daughters as well&#8212; 26on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. 27At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.&#8221;</div>
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