Ezekiel's Call

2 And he said to me, ^(A)“Son of man,^{[a] (B)}stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And as he spoke to me, ^(C)the Spirit entered into me and ^(D)set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to ^(E)nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. ^(F)They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴ The descendants also are ^(G)impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ⁵ And ^(H)whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ^(I)a rebellious house) ^(J)they will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, ^(K)be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, ^(L)though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on ^(M)scorpions.^[b] Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you shall speak my words to them, ^(N)whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^(O)Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^(P)eat what I give you.” ⁹ And when I looked, behold, ^(Q)a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^(R)a scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰ And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^(S)on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3 And he said to me, ^(T)“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^(U)Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^(V)Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^(W)as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, ^(X)“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^(Y)Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ^7 (Z)But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^(AA)have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ^8 (AB)Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^(AC)emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^(AD)Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^(AE)all my words that I shall speak to you receive ^(AF)in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go to the exiles, ^(AG)to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(AH)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^(AI)whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

^12 (AJ)Then the Spirit^[c] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice^[d] of ^(AK)a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of ^(AL)the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^(AM)a great earthquake. ^14 (AN)The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ^(AO)hand of the Lord being strong upon me. ^15 (AP)And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^(AQ)by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.^[e] And ^(AR)I sat there ^(AS)overwhelmed among them ^(AT)seven days.

A Watchman for Israel

^16 (AU)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (AV)“Son of man, ^(AW)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(AX)give them warning from me. ^18 (AY)If I say to the wicked, ^(AZ)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(BA)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^(BB)shall die for^[f] his iniquity, ^(BC)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (BD)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^(BE)but you ^(BF)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (BG)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(BH)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(BI)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(BJ)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(BK)but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

^22 (BL)And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^(BM)the valley,^[g] and ^(BN)there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^(BO)the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^(BP)by the Chebar canal, ^(BQ)and I fell on my face. ^24 (BR)But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, behold, ^(BS)cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that ^(BT)you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^(BU)for they are a rebellious house. ^27 (BV)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(BW)‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^(BX)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “And you, ^(BY)son of man, ^(BZ)take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. ^2 (CA)And put siegeworks against it, ^(CB)and build a siege wall against it, ^(CC)and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ^(CD)and plant battering rams against it all around. ³ And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; ^(CE)and set your face toward it, ^(CF)and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ^(CG)a sign for the house of Israel.

⁴ “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment^[h] of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ^(CH)you shall bear their punishment. ⁵ For I assign to you a number of days, ^(CI)390 days, ^(CJ)equal to the number of the years of their punishment. ^(CK)So long shall you bear ^(CL)the punishment of the house of Israel. ⁶ And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ^(CM)bear ^(CN)the punishment of the house of Judah. ^(CO)Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. ^7 (CP)And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ^(CQ)with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. ⁸ And behold, ^(CR)I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed ^(CS)the days of your siege.

⁹ “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,^[i] and put them into a single vessel and make your ^(CT)bread from them. ^(CU)During the number of days that you lie on your side, ^(CV)390 days, you shall eat it. ¹⁰ And your food that you eat shall be ^(CW)by weight, ^(CX)twenty shekels^[j] a day; from day to day^[k] you shall eat it. ¹¹ And water you shall drink ^(CY)by measure, the sixth part of a hin;^[l] from day to day you shall drink. ¹² And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^(CZ)in their sight on human dung.” ¹³ And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^(DA)their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” ¹⁴ Then I said, ^(DB)“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.^{[m] (DC)}From my youth up till now I have never eaten ^(DD)what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has ^(DE)tainted meat come into my mouth.” ¹⁵ Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” ¹⁶ Moreover, he said to me, ^(DF)“Son of man, behold, ^(DG)I will break the supply^[n] of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread ^(DH)by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water ^(DI)by measure and in dismay. ¹⁷ I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ^(DJ)look at one another in dismay, and ^(DK)rot away because of their punishment.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

5 “And you, ^(DL)O son of man, take a ^(DM)sharp sword. Use it as ^(DN)a barber's razor and ^(DO)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. ^2 (DP)A third part you shall burn in the fire ^(DQ)in the midst of the city, ^(DR)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^(DS)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ^(DT)I will unsheathe the sword after them. ^3 (DU)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. ^4 (DV)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(DW)This is Jerusalem. I have set her ^(DX)in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. ⁶ And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness ^(DY)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than ^(DZ)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are ^(EA)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, ^(EB)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, ^(EC)and have not^[o] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, ⁸ therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ^(ED)am against you. ^(EE)And I will execute judgments^[p] in your midst ^(EF)in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do with you ^(EG)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(EH)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. ^(EI)And I will execute judgments on you, ^(EJ)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. ¹¹ Therefore, ^(EK)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ^(EL)because you have defiled my sanctuary ^(EM)with all your detestable things and with all your ^(EN)abominations, ^(EO)therefore I will withdraw.^{[q] (EP)}My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. ^12 (EQ)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^(ER)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^(ES)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

^13 (ET)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^(EU)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—^(EV)when I spend my fury upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you ^(EW)a desolation and ^(EX)an object of reproach among ^(EY)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You shall be^[r] a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^(EZ)and a horror, to ^(FA)the nations all around you, ^(FB)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^(FC)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— ¹⁶ when I send against you^{[s] (FD)}the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^(FE)you and break your supply^[t] of bread. ¹⁷ I will send famine and ^(FF)wild beasts against you, ^(FG)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^(FH)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ² For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^{[b] (G)}that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(AD)that you may not grieve as others do ^(AE)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(AF)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(AG)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you ^(AH)by a word from the Lord,^[d] that ^(AI)we who are alive, who are left until ^(AJ)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(AK)the Lord himself will descend ^(AL)from heaven ^(AM)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(AN)an archangel, and ^(AO)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(AP)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(AQ)caught up together with them ^(AR)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(AS)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.