Ezekiel 7-8
Christian Standard Bible
Announcement of the End
7 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel:
An end! The end has come
on the four corners of the earth.(A)
3 The end is now upon you;
I will send my anger against you
and judge you according to your ways.
I will punish you for all your detestable practices.
4 I will not look on you with pity or spare you,(B)
but I will punish you for your ways(C)
and for your detestable practices within you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.”(D)
5 This is what the Lord God says:
Look, one disaster after another is coming!(E)
6 An end has come; the end has come!
It has awakened against you.
Look, it is coming!
7 Doom[a] has come on you,(F)
inhabitants of the land.
The time has come; the day is near.
There will be panic on the mountains
and not celebration.(G)
8 I will pour out my wrath on you very soon;(H)
I will exhaust my anger against you
and judge you according to your ways.
I will punish you for all your detestable practices.
9 I will not look on you with pity or spare you.
I will punish you for your ways
and for your detestable practices within you.
Then you will know
that it is I, the Lord, who strikes.
10 Here is the day! Here it comes!
Doom is on its way.(I)
The rod has blossomed;(J)
arrogance has bloomed.(K)
11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.(L)
None of them will remain:
none of that crowd,
none of their wealth,
and none of the eminent[b] among them.
12 The time has come; the day has arrived.
Let the buyer not rejoice(M)
and the seller not mourn,
for wrath is on her whole crowd.(N)
13 The seller will certainly not return
to what was sold
as long as he and the buyer remain alive.[c]
For the vision concerning her whole crowd
will not be revoked,
and because of the iniquity of each one,
none will preserve his life.
14 They have blown the trumpet(O)
and prepared everything,
but no one goes to war,
for my wrath is on her whole crowd.
15 The sword is on the outside;(P)
plague and famine are on the inside.
Whoever is in the field will die by the sword,
and famine and plague will devour
whoever is in the city.
16 The survivors among them will escape(Q)
and live on the mountains.
Like doves of the valley,
all of them will moan,
each over his own iniquity.
17 All their hands will become weak,
and all their knees will run with urine.[d](R)
18 They will put on sackcloth,
and horror will overwhelm them.
Shame will cover all their faces,
and all their heads will be bald.(S)
19 They will throw their silver into the streets,
and their gold will seem like something filthy.(T)
Their silver and gold will be unable to save them
in the day of the Lord’s wrath.(U)
They will not satisfy their appetites
or fill their stomachs,
for these were the stumbling blocks(V)
that brought about their iniquity.
20 He appointed his beautiful ornaments for majesty,
but[e] they made their detestable images from them,
their abhorrent things.(W)
Therefore, I have made these
into something filthy to them.
21 I will hand these things over
to foreigners as plunder(X)
and to the wicked of the earth as spoil,
and they will profane them.
22 I will turn my face from them
as they profane my treasured place.
Violent men will enter it and profane it.
23 Forge the chain,(Y)
for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,
and the city is filled with violence.(Z)
24 So I will bring the most evil of nations(AA)
to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the strong,
and their sacred places will be profaned.(AB)
25 Anguish is coming!
They will look for peace, but there will be none.
26 Disaster after disaster will come,(AC)
and there will be rumor after rumor.(AD)
Then they will look for a vision from a prophet,(AE)
but instruction will perish from the priests
and counsel from the elders.(AF)
27 The king will mourn;
the prince will be clothed in grief;
and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their own conduct,
and I will judge them by their own standards.(AG)
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Visionary Journey to Jerusalem
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me,(AH) and there the hand of the Lord God came down on me.(AI) 2 I looked, and there was someone who looked like a man.[f] From what seemed to be his waist down was fire, and from his waist up was something that looked bright,(AJ) like the gleam of amber.(AK) 3 He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God(AL) to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy(AM) was located. 4 I saw the glory of the God of Israel(AN) there, like the vision I had seen in the plain.(AO)
Pagan Practices in the Temple
5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” I looked to the north, and there was this offensive statue north of the Altar Gate, at the entrance. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing here—more detestable acts that the house of Israel is committing(AP)—so that I must depart from my sanctuary? You will see even more detestable acts.”
7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked there was a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway. 9 He said to me, “Go in and see the detestable, wicked acts they are committing here.”
10 I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every kind of abhorrent thing—crawling creatures and beasts—as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.(AQ) 11 Seventy elders from the house of Israel were standing before them, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan(AR) standing among them. Each had a firepan in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up. 12 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”(AS) 13 Again he said to me, “You will see even more detestable acts that they are committing.”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house, and I saw women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 And he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even more detestable acts than these.”
16 So he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house, and there were about twenty-five men at the entrance of the Lord’s temple, between the portico and the altar,(AT) with their backs to the Lord’s temple and their faces turned to the east.(AU) They were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.(AV) 17 And he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the detestable acts they are doing here, that they must also fill the land with violence(AW) and repeatedly anger me,(AX) even putting the branch to their nose?[g] 18 Therefore I will respond with wrath.(AY) I will not show pity or spare them.(AZ) Though they call loudly in my hearing,(BA) I will not listen to them.”
Footnotes
- 7:7 Or A leash; Hb obscure, also in v. 10
- 7:11 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg read and no rest
- 7:13 Lit sold, while still in life is their life
- 7:17 Lit knees will go water
- 7:20 Or They turned their beautiful ornaments into objects of pride, and
- 8:2 LXX; MT, Vg read like fire
- 8:17 Alt Hb tradition reads my nose
1 Timothy 4
Christian Standard Bible
Demonic Influence
4 Now the Spirit(A) explicitly says that in later times(B) some will depart from the faith,(C) paying attention to deceitful spirits(D) and the teachings of demons,(E) 2 through the hypocrisy(F) of liars whose consciences(G) are seared. 3 They forbid marriage(H) and demand abstinence(I) from foods that God created(J) to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good,(K) and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,(L) 5 since it is sanctified by the word of God(M) and by prayer.
A Good Servant of Jesus Christ
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith(N) and the good teaching that you have followed.(O) 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths.(P) Rather, train yourself in godliness.(Q) 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit,(R) but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.(S) 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.(T) 10 For this reason we labor and strive,[a] because we have put our hope in the living God,(U) who is the Savior(V) of all people,(W) especially of those who believe.
Instructions for Ministry
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech,(X) in conduct,(Y) in love,[b](Z) in faith, and in purity.(AA) 13 Until I come,(AB) give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy,(AC) with the laying on of hands(AD) by the council of elders. 15 Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save(AE) both yourself and your hearers.(AF)
Psalm 119:89-96
Christian Standard Bible
ל Lamed
89 Lord, your word is forever;(A)
it is firmly fixed in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness is for all generations;(B)
you established the earth, and it stands firm.(C)
91 Your judgments stand firm today,(D)
for all things are your servants.(E)
92 If your instruction had not been my delight,
I would have died in my affliction.(F)
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for you have given me life through them.(G)
94 I am yours; save me,(H)
for I have studied your precepts.(I)
95 The wicked hope to destroy me,(J)
but I contemplate your decrees.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your command is without limit.
Proverbs 26:20-21
Christian Standard Bible
20 Without wood, fire goes out;
without a gossip, conflict dies down.(A)
21 As charcoal for embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.(B)
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