God’s Sword of Judgment

21 ^[a]The word of the Lord came to me again: ² “Son of man, turn your face toward^(A) Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel, ³ and say to it: This is what the Lord says: I am against you.^(B) I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you. ⁴ Since I will cut off^[b] both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will therefore come out of its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.^{(C) 5} So all the people will know that I, Yahweh, have taken My sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again.^(D)

⁶ “But you, son of man, groan! Groan bitterly with a broken heart^[c] right before their eyes. ⁷ And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ then say: Because of the news that is coming.^(E) Every heart will melt, and every hand will become weak. Every spirit will be discouraged, and every knee will turn to water. Yes, it is coming and it will happen.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

⁸ The word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy: This is what the Lord says! You are to proclaim:

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁹ “Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city. ²⁰ Mark out a road that the sword can take to Rabbah of the Ammonites^(N) and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the split in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, consults the idols, and observes the liver. ²² The answer marked^[i] Jerusalem appears in his right hand, indicating that he should set up battering rams,^(O) give the order to^[j] slaughter, raise a battle cry, set battering rams against the gates, build a ramp, and construct a siege wall. ²³ It will seem like false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn an oath to the Babylonians,^[k](P) but it will draw attention to their guilt so that they will be captured.

²⁴ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your actions, since you have done this, you will be captured by them.

²⁶ This is what the Lord God says:

²⁸ “Now prophesy, son of man, and say: This is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt. You are to proclaim:

Indictment of Sinful Jerusalem

22 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.^{(Z) 3} You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood^(AA) within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled! ⁴ You are guilty of the blood you have shed,^(AB) and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. ⁵ Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.

⁶ “Look, every prince of Israel^(AC) within you has used his strength to shed blood. ⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt,^(AD) and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you.^{(AE) 8} You despise My holy things and profane My Sabbaths.^{(AF) 9} There are men within you who slander in order to shed blood.^(AG) People who live in you eat at the mountain shrines; they commit immoral acts within you. ¹⁰ Men within you have sexual intercourse with their father’s wife and violate women during their menstrual impurity.^{(AH) 11} One man within you commits a detestable act with his neighbor’s wife;^(AI) another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his father’s daughter.^{(AJ) 12} People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood.^(AK) You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors.^(AL) You have forgotten Me.”^(AM) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹³ “Now look, I clap My hands together against the dishonest profit you have made^(AN) and against the blood shed among you. ¹⁴ Will your courage endure^(AO) or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will act.^{(AP) 15} I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries;^(AQ) I will purge your uncleanness.^{(AR) 16} You^[r] will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”^(AS)

Jerusalem as God’s Furnace

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me.^(AT) All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace;^(AU) they are the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have become dross, I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire^(AV) on them and melt them, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, put you inside, and melt you. ²¹ Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted within the city. ²² As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you.”^(AW)

Indictment of a Sinful Land

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her: You are a land that has not been cleansed,^(AX) that has not received rain in the day of indignation. ²⁵ The conspiracy of her prophets^(AY) within her is^[s] like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her. ²⁶ Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things.^(AZ) They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean.^(BA) They disregard^[t] My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷ “Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly. ²⁸ Her prophets plaster with whitewash for them by seeing false visions and lying divinations,^(BB) and they say, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery.^(BC) They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident. ³⁰ I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall^(BD) and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it,^(BE) but I found no one. ³¹ So I have poured out My indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads.”^(BF) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Psalm 5

The Refuge of the Righteous

For the choir director: with the flutes. A Davidic psalm.

Greeting

1 Paul,^(A) an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command^(B) of God our Savior^(C) and of Christ Jesus our hope:^(D)

² To Timothy,^(E) my true son in the faith.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the^[a] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

False Doctrine and Misuse of the Law

³ As I urged you when I went to Macedonia,^(F) remain in Ephesus^(G) so that you may instruct certain people^(H) not to teach different doctrine ⁴ or to pay attention to myths^(I) and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan,^(J) which operates by faith. ⁵ Now the goal of our instruction is love^(K) that comes from a pure heart,^(L) a good conscience,^(M) and a sincere faith.^{(N) 6} Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on. ⁸ But we know that the law is good,^(O) provided one uses it legitimately. ⁹ We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious,^(P) for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral^(Q) and homosexuals,^(R) for kidnappers,^[b] liars,^(S) perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching^{(T) 11} based on the glorious gospel^(U) of the blessed God,^(V) which was entrusted to me.^(W)

Paul’s Testimony

¹² I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened^(X) me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry— ¹³ one who was formerly a blasphemer,^(Y) a persecutor,^(Z) and an arrogant man.^(AA) But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This saying is trustworthy^(AB) and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world^(AC) to save sinners”^(AD)—and I am the worst of them.^{(AE) 16} But I received mercy^(AF) for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience^(AG) as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.^{(AH) 17} Now to the King^(AI) eternal,^(AJ) immortal,^(AK) invisible, the only^[c] God,^(AL) be honor^(AM) and glory^(AN) forever and ever. Amen.^(AO)

Engage in Battle

¹⁸ Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies^(AP) previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle, ¹⁹ having faith^(AQ) and a good conscience.^(AR) Some^(AS) have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith. ²⁰ Hymenaeus^(AT) and Alexander^(AU) are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan,^(AV) so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.