Idolatry Will Be Punished

14 Now ^(A)some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them ^(B)that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. ^(C)Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

⁴ “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, ⁵ that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and ^(D)turn your faces away from all your abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. ^8 (E)I will set My face against that man and make him a ^(F)sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. ^(G)Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord ^(H)have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, ¹¹ that the house of Israel may ^(I)no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, ^(J)but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord God.’ ”

Judgment on Persistent Unfaithfulness

¹² The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: ¹³ “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its ^(K)supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. ^14 (L)Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves ^(M)by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.

¹⁵ “If I cause ^(N)wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ^[a]empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even ^(O)though these three men were ^[b]in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be ^(P)desolate.

¹⁷ “Or if ^(Q)I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I ^(R)cut off man and beast from it, ¹⁸ even ^(S)though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

¹⁹ “Or if I send ^(T)a pestilence into that land and ^(U)pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰ even ^(V)though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when ^(W)I send My four ^[c]severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? ^22 (X)Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be ^(Y)brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and ^(Z)you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. ²³ And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing ^(AA)without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord God.

The Outcast Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ² “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? ⁴ Instead, ^(AB)it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? ⁵ Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

⁶ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and ^(AC)I will set My face against them. ^(AD)They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. ^(AE)Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God.”

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of ^(A)Mary and her sister Martha. ^2 (B)It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, ^(C)He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸ The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to ^(D)stone You, and are You going there again?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(E)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the ^(F)light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(G)if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^(H)sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then ^(I)Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that ^(J)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, ^(K)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am ^(L)the resurrection and the life. ^(M)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(N)die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(O)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.