Misuse of Riches

5 ^(A)Come now, ^(B)you rich people, ^(C)weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. ^2 (D)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will ^[a]serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is ^(E)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! ⁴ Behold, ^(F)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and ^(G)the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of ^(H)the Lord ^[b]of armies. ⁵ You have ^[c](I)lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have ^[d]fattened your hearts in ^(J)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^[e](K)put to death ^(L)the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.

Exhortation

⁷ Therefore be patient, ^(M)brothers and sisters, ^(N)until the coming of the Lord. ^(O)The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until ^[f]it gets ^(P)the early and late rains. ^8 (Q)You too be patient; ^(R)strengthen your hearts, for ^(S)the coming of the Lord is ^(T)near. ^9 (U)Do not ^[g]complain, ^(V)brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(W)the Judge is standing ^[h](X)right at the ^[i]door. ¹⁰ As an example, ^(Y)brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take ^(Z)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We count those ^(AA)blessed who endured. You have heard of ^(AB)the ^[j]endurance of Job and have seen ^(AC)the ^[k]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^(AD)the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹² But above all, ^(AE)my brothers and sisters, ^(AF)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but ^[l]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.

¹³ Is anyone among you ^(AG)suffering? ^(AH)Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^(AI)sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^(AJ)the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^[m](AK)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the ^(AL)prayer of faith will ^[n](AM)restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will ^(AN)raise him up, and if he has committed sins, ^[o]they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(AO)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^(AP)healed. ^(AQ)A ^[p]prayer of a righteous person, when it is ^[q]brought about, can accomplish much. ¹⁷ Elijah was ^(AR)a man with a nature like ours, and ^(AS)he prayed ^[r]earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^(AT)three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he ^(AU)prayed again, and ^(AV)the sky ^[s]poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, ^(AW)if anyone among you strays from ^(AX)the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will ^(AY)save his soul from death and ^(AZ)cover a multitude of sins.

The Lovers Speak

The Groom

The Chorus

The Bride

The Chorus

The Bride

The Groom

The Bride

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

11 Now the ^(A)Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^(B)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and ^(C)give evil advice in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ^[a]This ^(D)city is the pot and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore, ^(E)prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “This is how you think, house of Israel, for ^(F)I know ^[b]your ^(G)thoughts. ⁶ You have ^(H)multiplied your slain in this city, and filled its streets with ^[c]them.” ⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[d]God says: “Your ^(I)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^[e]the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but ^[f]I will ^(J)bring you out of it. ⁸ You have ^(K)feared a sword; so I will ^(L)bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the midst of ^[g]the city, and hand you over to ^(M)strangers, and ^(N)execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will ^(O)fall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^(P)border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will ^(Q)not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel. ¹² So you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^(R)executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the ^(S)nations around you.”’”

¹³ Now it came about, as I prophesied, that ^(T)Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “^(U)Oh, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, ^[h]your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Keep far from the Lord; this land has been given ^(V)to us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^(W)sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will ^(X)gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they come there, they will ^(Y)remove all its ^(Z)detestable things and all its abominations from it. ¹⁹ And I will ^(AA)give them one heart, and put a new spirit within ^[i]them. And I will remove the ^(AB)heart of stone from their flesh and give them a ^(AC)heart of flesh, ²⁰ so that they may ^(AD)walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^(AE)My people, and I shall be their God. ^21 [j]But as for those whose hearts go after their ^(AF)detestable things and abominations, I will ^[k](AG)bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim ^(AH)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^(AI)the glory of the God of Israel ^[l]hovered over them. ²³ The ^(AJ)glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(AK)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. ²⁴ And the ^(AL)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to ^[m]Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen ^[n](AM)left me. ²⁵ And I ^(AN)told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Ezekiel Prepares for Exile

12 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, you live in the ^(AO)midst of the ^(AP)rebellious house, who ^(AQ)have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. ³ So as for you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; that is, go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. ^(AR)Perhaps they will ^[o]understand, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴ Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you shall go out ^(AS)at evening in their sight, as those who are going into exile. ⁵ Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and ^[p]go out through it. ⁶ Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall ^(AT)cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^(AU)sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷ Then I ^(AV)did so, just as I had been commanded. By day I ^(AW)brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, has the house of Israel, the ^(AX)rebellious house, not said to you, ‘^(AY)What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[q]God says: “This ^(AZ)pronouncement concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ^[r]in it.”’ ¹¹ Say, ‘I am ^[s]a ^(BA)sign to you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; they will ^(BB)go into exile, into captivity.’ ¹² The ^(BC)prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. ^[t]They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out through it. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³ I will also spread My ^(BD)net over him, and he will be caught in My net. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will ^(BE)not see it, though he will die there. ¹⁴ And I will ^(BF)scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. ¹⁵ So they will ^(BG)know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. ¹⁶ But I will ^[u]spare a few of them from the ^(BH)sword, the famine, and plague so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go, and ^[v]may ^(BI)know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, ^(BJ)eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. ¹⁹ Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord God says concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because ^[w]their land will be ^[x](BK)stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it. ²⁰ The inhabited ^(BL)cities will be in ruins, and the ^(BM)land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the Lord.”’”

²¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²² “Son of man, what is this ^(BN)proverb you people have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The ^(BO)days are long, and every ^(BP)vision fails’? ²³ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will put an end to this proverb so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “^(BQ)The days are approaching as well as the ^[y]fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For there will no longer be any ^[z](BR)false vision or deceptive divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I the Lord will speak whatever ^(BS)word I speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in ^(BT)your days, you ^(BU)rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”

²⁶ Furthermore, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁷ “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for ^(BV)many ^[aa]years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,”’” declares the Lord God.