The Siege of Jerusalem

24 ^(A)In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (B)“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³ And ^(C)utter a parable to ^(D)the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

⁶ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(G)Woe to the bloody city, to ^(H)the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.^{[b] 7} For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ^(I)the bare rock; ^(J)she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. ⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! ^(K)I also will make the pile great. ¹⁰ Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,^[c] and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ^(L)that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. ^12 (M)She has wearied herself with toil;^[d] its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! ¹³ On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, ^(N)you shall not be cleansed anymore till ^(O)I have satisfied my fury upon you. ^14 (P)I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; ^(Q)I will not spare; ^(R)I will not relent; ^(S)according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel's Wife Dies

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ^16 (T)“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. ¹⁷ Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. ^(U)Bind on your turban, and ^(V)put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, ^(W)nor eat the bread of men.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and ^(X)at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did ^(Y)as I was commanded.

¹⁹ And ^(Z)the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” ²⁰ Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹ ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AA)Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and ^(AB)your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. ²² And ^(AC)you shall do as I have done; ^(AD)you shall not cover your lips, ^(AE)nor eat the bread of men. ^23 (AF)Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but ^(AG)you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. ²⁴ Thus shall Ezekiel be to you ^(AH)a sign; ^(AI)according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then ^(AJ)you will know that I am the Lord God.’

²⁵ “As for you, ^(AK)son of man, surely on the day when I take from them ^(AL)their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul's desire, and also their sons and daughters, ^26 (AM)on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. ²⁷ On that day your mouth ^(AN)will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. ^(AO)So you will be a sign to them, and ^(AP)they will know that I am the Lord.”

6 Therefore ^(A)let us leave ^(B)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(C)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(D)instruction about washings,^{[a] (E)}the laying on of hands, ^(F)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(G)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(H)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(I)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(J)the heavenly gift, and ^(K)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(L)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(M)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(N)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(O)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(P)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(Q)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(R)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(S)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(T)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(U)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(V)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^(W)he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, ^(X)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^{[b] (Y)}having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^(Z)an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to ^(AA)the heirs of the promise ^(AB)the unchangeable character of his purpose, ^(AC)he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^(AD)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^(AE)set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ^(AF)the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone ^(AG)as a forerunner on our behalf, ^(AH)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.