Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold

5 “As for you, son of man, take a ^(A)sharp sword; take and ^[a]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take ^(B)scales for weighing and divide ^[b]the hair. ² A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the ^(C)days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around ^[c]the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will ^(D)unsheathe a sword behind them. ³ Take also a few hairs in number from ^[d]them and bind them in the hems of your robes. ⁴ Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will ^[e]spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵ “This is what the Lord ^[f]God says: ‘This is ^(E)Jerusalem; I have placed her at the ^(F)center of the nations, with lands around her. ⁶ But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes ^(G)more than the lands which surround her; for they have ^(H)rejected My ordinances and have not walked ^[g]in My statutes.’ ⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have ^(I)more turmoil than the nations that surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, nor acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you,’ ⁸ therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am ^(J)against you, and I will ^(K)execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do among you what I have ^(L)not done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore, ^(M)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and ^(N)scatter all your remnant to every wind. ¹¹ Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have ^(O)defiled My sanctuary with all your ^(P)detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. ¹² A third of you will die by ^(Q)plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will ^(R)scatter to every wind, and I will ^(S)unsheathe a sword behind them.

¹³ ‘Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be ^(T)appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have ^(U)spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you a site of ruins and a ^(V)disgrace among the nations that surround you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. ¹⁵ So ^[h]it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a ^(W)warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I ^(X)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ When I send against them the ^[i]deadly arrows of famine which ^[j]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break off your ^[k]provision of bread. ^17 (Y)I will send on you famine and vicious animals, and they will bereave you of children; ^(Z)plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

Idolatrous Worship Denounced

6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face toward the ^(AA)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them ³ and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord ^[l]God! This is what the Lord ^[m]God says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword against you, and ^(AB)I will destroy your high places. ⁴ So your ^(AC)altars will become deserted and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. ⁵ I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your ^(AD)bones around your altars. ^6 [n]Everywhere you live, ^(AE)cities will be in ruins and the high places will be deserted, so that your altars will be in ruins and ^[o]deserted, your ^(AF)idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “However, I will leave a ^(AG)remnant, in that you will have those who ^(AH)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. ⁹ Then those of you who escape will ^(AI)remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have ^[p](AJ)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will ^(AK)loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord ^[q]God says: ‘Clap your hands, ^(AL)stamp your foot and say, “^(AM)Woe, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the ^(AN)sword, famine, and plague! ¹² Anyone who is ^(AO)far away will die by the plague, anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains and is spared from these will die by the famine. So I will ^(AP)expend My wrath on them. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their ^(AQ)dead are among their idols around their altars, on ^(AR)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every massive oak with thick branches—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ So through all their dwelling places I will ^(AS)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; so they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Punishment for Wickedness Foretold

7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man, this is what the Lord ^[r]God says to the land of Israel: ‘An ^(AT)end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you, for I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and ^[s]bring all your abominations upon you. ⁴ And My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will ^[t](AU)bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will ^(AV)know that I am the Lord!’

⁵ “This is what the Lord ^[u]God says: ‘A ^(AW)disaster, a unique disaster, behold, it is coming! ⁶ An end ^[v]is coming; the end has come! It has ^(AX)awakened against you; behold, it has come! ⁷ Your ^[w]doom has come to you, you inhabitant of the land. The ^(AY)time has come, the ^(AZ)day is near—panic rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. ⁸ Now I will shortly ^(BA)pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will ^(BB)judge you according to your ways and ^[x]bring on you all your abominations. ⁹ My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will ^[y]repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking.

¹⁰ ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your ^[z]doom has gone forth; the ^(BC)rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. ¹¹ Violence ^[aa]has grown into a rod of ^(BD)wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their ^[ab]people, none of their ^(BE)wealth, nor anything eminent among them. ¹² The ^(BF)time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the ^(BG)buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for ^(BH)wrath is against all their multitude. ¹³ Indeed, the seller will not ^[ac](BI)regain ^[ad]what he sold as long as ^[ae]they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not ^[af]be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his wrongdoing.

¹⁴ ‘They have ^(BJ)blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all ^[ag]their multitude. ¹⁵ The ^(BK)sword is outside the city and the plague and the famine are within. Anyone who is in the field will die by the sword, while famine and the plague will consume those in the city. ¹⁶ Even when their survivors ^(BL)escape, they will be on the mountains like ^(BM)doves of the valleys, all of them ^(BN)moaning, each over his own wrongdoing. ¹⁷ All ^(BO)hands will hang limp, and all ^[ah]knees will drip with water. ¹⁸ They will ^(BP)put on sackcloth and ^(BQ)shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and a ^[ai](BR)bald patch on all their heads. ¹⁹ They will ^(BS)fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their ^(BT)silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their ^[aj]appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, because their wrongdoing has become a cause of stumbling.

The Temple Profaned

²⁰ Moreover, they transformed the splendor of His jewels into pride, and ^(BU)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. ²¹ And I will hand it over to the ^(BV)foreigners as plunder, and to the wicked of the earth as spoils; and they will profane it. ²² I will also turn My ^(BW)face away from them, and they will profane My treasure; then robbers will enter and profane it.

²³ ‘^(BX)Make the ^[ak]chain, for the land is full of ^[al](BY)bloody crimes, and the city is ^(BZ)full of violence. ²⁴ Therefore, I will bring the worst of the ^(CA)nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will also put an end to the ^(CB)pride of the strong ones, and their ^(CC)holy places will be profaned. ²⁵ When anguish comes, they will seek ^(CD)peace, but there will be none. ^26 (CE)Disaster will come upon disaster and ^(CF)rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a ^(CG)vision from a prophet, but the ^(CH)Law will be lost from the priest, and ^(CI)counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king will mourn, the prince will be ^(CJ)clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will ^[am]tremble. I will deal with them because of their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Jesus, the Example

12 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s ^(A)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s ^(B)run with ^(C)endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking only at Jesus, the ^[a](D)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him ^(E)endured the cross, ^(F)despising the shame, and has ^(G)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For ^(H)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary ^[b](I)and lose heart.

A Father’s Discipline

^4 (J)You have not yet resisted ^[c](K)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

⁷ It is for discipline that you endure; ^(P)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, ^(Q)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had ^[d]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we ^(R)respected them; shall we not much more be subject to ^(S)the Father of ^[e]spirits, and ^(T)live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, ^(U)so that we may share His holiness. ^11 (V)For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the ^(W)peaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹² Therefore, ^[f](X)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, ¹³ and ^(Y)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather ^(Z)be healed.

^14 (AA)Pursue peace with all people, and the ^(AB)holiness without which no one will ^(AC)see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one ^(AD)comes short of the grace of God; that no ^(AE)root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become ^(AF)defiled; ¹⁶ that there be no ^(AG)sexually immoral or ^(AH)godless person like Esau, ^(AI)who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterward, ^(AJ)when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

^18 (AK)For you have not come to ^(AL)a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹ and to the ^(AM)blast of a trumpet and the ^(AN)sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard ^(AO)begged that no further word be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not ^[g]cope with the command, “^(AP)If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “^(AQ)I am terrified and trembling.” ²² But ^(AR)you have come to Mount Zion and to ^(AS)the city of ^(AT)the living God, ^(AU)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(AV)myriads of ^[h]angels, ²³ to the general assembly and ^(AW)church of the firstborn who ^(AX)are enrolled in heaven, and to God, ^(AY)the Judge of all, and to the ^(AZ)spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the ^(BA)mediator of a new covenant, and to the ^(BB)sprinkled blood, which speaks better than ^(BC)the blood of Abel.

The Unshaken Kingdom

^25 (BD)See to it that you do not refuse Him who is ^(BE)speaking. For ^(BF)if those did not escape when they ^(BG)refused him who ^(BH)warned them on earth, ^[i]much less will we escape who turn away from Him who ^(BI)warns us from heaven. ²⁶ And ^(BJ)His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “^(BK)Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes ^(BL)the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a ^(BM)kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s ^[j]show gratitude, by which we may ^(BN)offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for ^(BO)our God is a consuming fire.