42 So (A)I will lay to rest My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet, and be angry no more. 43 Because (B)you did not remember the days of your youth, but [a]agitated Me with all these things, surely (C)I will also recompense your [b]deeds on your own head,” says the Lord God. “And you shall not commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations.

More Wicked than Samaria and Sodom

44 “Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter!’ 45 You are your mother’s daughter, [c]loathing husband and children; and you are the (D)sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children; (E)your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46 “Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and (F)your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, (G)you became more corrupt than they in all your ways.

48 As I live,” says the Lord God, “neither (H)your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, (I)fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and (J)committed abomination before Me; therefore (K)I took them away as [d]I saw fit.

51 “Samaria did not commit (L)half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and (M)have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. 52 You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.

53 (N)“When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back (O)the captives of your captivity among them, 54 that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when (P)you comforted them. 55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. 56 For your sister Sodom was not a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the (Q)reproach of the daughters of [e]Syria and all those around her, and of (R)the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you everywhere. 58 (S)You have paid for your lewdness and your abominations,” says the Lord. 59 For thus says the Lord God: “I will deal with you as you have done, who (T)despised (U)the oath by breaking the covenant.

An Everlasting Covenant

60 “Nevertheless I will (V)remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish (W)an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then (X)you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for (Y)daughters, (Z)but not because of My covenant with you. 62 (AA)And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may (AB)remember and be ashamed, (AC)and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’ ”

The Eagles and the Vine

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a (AD)parable to the house of Israel, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

(AE)“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors,
Came to Lebanon
And (AF)took from the cedar the highest branch.
He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in (AG)a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it (AH)like a willow tree.
And it grew and became a spreading vine (AI)of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.

“But there was [f]another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, (AJ)this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.
It was planted in [g]good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.” ’

“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Will it thrive?
(AK)Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
10 Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
(AL)Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Say now to (AM)the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed (AN)the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon. 13 (AO)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, (AP)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, 14 that the kingdom might be (AQ)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15 But (AR)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, (AS)that they might give him horses and many people. (AT)Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

16 As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely (AU)in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 (AV)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, (AW)when they heap up a siege mound and build a [h]wall to cut off many persons. 18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact (AX)gave[i] his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. 20 I will (AY)spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and (AZ)try him there for the [j]treason which he committed against Me. 21 (BA)All his [k]fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be (BB)scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Israel Exalted at Last(BC)

22 Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest (BD)branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs (BE)a tender one, and will (BF)plant it on a high and prominent mountain. 23 (BG)On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. (BH)Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, (BI)have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; (BJ)I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:43 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT were agitated with Me
  2. Ezekiel 16:43 Lit. way
  3. Ezekiel 16:45 Or despising
  4. Ezekiel 16:50 Vg. you saw; LXX he saw; Tg. as was revealed to Me
  5. Ezekiel 16:57 Heb. Aram; so with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. Edom
  6. Ezekiel 17:7 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. one
  7. Ezekiel 17:8 Lit. a good field
  8. Ezekiel 17:17 Or siege wall
  9. Ezekiel 17:18 Took an oath
  10. Ezekiel 17:20 Lit. unfaithful act
  11. Ezekiel 17:21 So with MT, Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. choice men; Tg. mighty men; LXX omits All his fugitives

The New Priestly Service

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, (A)who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of (B)the [a]sanctuary and of (C)the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

For (D)every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore (E)it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve (F)the copy and (G)shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, (H)“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now (I)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a (J)better covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant(K)

For if that (L)first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: (M)“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the (N)Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and (O)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 (P)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the (Q)Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, (R)and their sins [b]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

13 (S)In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:2 Lit. holies
  2. Hebrews 8:12 NU omits and their lawless deeds

13 (A)They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 (B)But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
15 (C)And He gave them their request,
But (D)sent leanness into their soul.

16 When (E)they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
17 (F)The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
18 (G)A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.

19 (H)They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
20 Thus (I)they changed their glory
Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 (J)Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one (K)stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

24 Then they despised (L)the pleasant land;
They (M)did not believe His word,
25 (N)But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 (O)Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
(P)To [a]overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 (Q)To [b]overthrow their descendants among the [c]nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.

28 (R)They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices [d]made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 (S)Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
31 And that was accounted to him (T)for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:26 make them fall
  2. Psalm 106:27 make their descendants fall also
  3. Psalm 106:27 Gentiles
  4. Psalm 106:28 offered

A satisfied soul [a]loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.

Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by [b]hearty counsel.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:7 tramples on
  2. Proverbs 27:9 Lit. counsel of the soul

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