^15 (A)And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^(B)by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.^[a] And ^(C)I sat there ^(D)overwhelmed among them ^(E)seven days.

A Watchman for Israel

^16 (F)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (G)“Son of man, ^(H)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(I)give them warning from me. ^18 (J)If I say to the wicked, ^(K)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(L)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 ^(M)shall die for^[b] his iniquity, ^(N)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (O)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, ^(P)but you ^(Q)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (R)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(S)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(T)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(U)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(V)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 (W)And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^(X)the valley,^[c] and ^(Y)there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^(Z)the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^(AA)by the Chebar canal, ^(AB)and I fell on my face. ^24 (AC)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, ^(AD)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 ^(AE)you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^(AF)for they are a rebellious house. ^27 (AG)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(AH)‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^(AI)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²⁰ If with Christ ^(A)you died to the ^(B)elemental spirits of the world, ^(C)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (D)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(E)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(F)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(G)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(H)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Put On the New Self

3 ^(I)If then you have been raised with Christ, seek ^(J)the things that are above, where Christ is, ^(K)seated at the right hand of God. ^2 (L)Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For ^(M)you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ ^(N)who is your^[a] life ^(O)appears, then you also will appear with him ^(P)in glory.

^5 (Q)Put to death therefore ^(R)what is earthly in you:^{[b] (S)}sexual immorality, impurity, ^(T)passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^(U)which is idolatry. ^6 (V)On account of these the wrath of God is coming.^{[c] 7 (W)}In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now ^(X)you must put them all away: ^(Y)anger, wrath, malice, ^(Z)slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ^9 (AA)Do not lie to one another, seeing that ^(AB)you have put off ^(AC)the old self^[d] with its practices ¹⁰ and ^(AD)have put on ^(AE)the new self, ^(AF)which is being renewed in knowledge ^(AG)after the image of ^(AH)its creator. ^11 (AI)Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,^[e] free; but Christ is ^(AJ)all, and in all.

Abominations in the Temple

8 ^(A)In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(B)as I sat in my house, with ^(C)the elders of Judah sitting before me, ^(D)the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, ^(E)a form that had the appearance of a man.^{[a] (F)}Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like ^(G)gleaming metal.^{[b] 3} He ^(H)put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up ^(I)between earth and heaven and ^(J)brought me in ^(K)visions of God to Jerusalem, ^(L)to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, ^(M)where was the seat of the ^(N)image of jealousy, ^(O)which provokes to jealousy. ⁴ And behold, ^(P)the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw ^(Q)in the valley.

⁵ Then he said to me, ^(R)“Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of ^(S)the altar gate, in the entrance, was this ^(T)image of jealousy. ⁶ And he said to me, “Son of man, ^(U)do you see what they are doing, ^(V)the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, ^(W)to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

⁷ And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ Then he said to me, “Son of man, ^(X)dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. ⁹ And he said to me, “Go in, and see ^(Y)the vile abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw. And there, ^(Z)engraved on the wall all around, was ^(AA)every form of ^(AB)creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. ¹¹ And before them stood ^(AC)seventy men of ^(AD)the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of ^(AE)Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and ^(AF)the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. ¹² Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing ^(AG)in the dark, each ^(AH)in his room of pictures? For they say, ^(AI)‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” ¹³ He said also to me, ^(AJ)“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

¹⁴ Then he brought me to ^(AK)the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O ^(AL)son of man? ^(AM)You will see still greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶ And he brought me into ^(AN)the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, ^(AO)between the ^(AP)porch and ^(AQ)the altar, were about twenty-five men, ^(AR)with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping ^(AS)the sun toward the east. ¹⁷ Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O ^(AT)son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit ^(AU)the abominations that they commit here, that ^(AV)they should fill the land with violence and ^(AW)provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their^[c] nose. ¹⁸ Therefore ^(AX)I will act in wrath. ^(AY)My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. ^(AZ)And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ^2 (A)They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^(B)the hour is coming when ^(C)whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things ^(D)because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But ^(E)I have said these things to you, that when ^(F)their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, ^(G)because I was with you. ⁵ But now ^(H)I am going to him who sent me, and ^(I)none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(J)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for ^(K)if I do not go away, ^(L)the Helper will not come to you. But ^(M)if ^(N)I go, ^(O)I will send him to you. ^8 (P)And when he comes, he will ^(Q)convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, ^(R)because they do not believe in me; ^10 (S)concerning righteousness, ^(T)because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ^11 (U)concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world ^(V)is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When ^(W)the Spirit of truth comes, ^(X)he will ^(Y)guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but ^(Z)whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will ^(AA)glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ^15 (AB)All that the Father has is mine; ^(AC)therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16 (AD)“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^(AE)again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So ^(AF)some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^(AG)‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^(AH)‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^(AI)We do not know what he is talking about.” ^19 (AJ)Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AK)you will weep and lament, but ^(AL)the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^(AM)your sorrow will turn into joy. ^21 (AN)When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22 (AO)So also you have sorrow now, but ^(AP)I will see you again, and ^(AQ)your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23 (AR)In that day you will ^(AS)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AT)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(AU)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(AV)Ask, and you will receive, ^(AW)that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. ^(AX)The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ^27 (AY)for the Father himself loves you, because ^(AZ)you have loved me and ^(BA)have believed that I came from God.^{[a] 28 (BB)}I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now ^(BC)I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ^(BD)using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that ^(BE)you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that ^(BF)you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, ^(BG)the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when ^(BH)you will be scattered, each to his own home, and ^(BI)will leave me alone. ^(BJ)Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that ^(BK)in me you may have peace. ^(BL)In the world you will have ^(BM)tribulation. But ^(BN)take heart; ^(BO)I have overcome the world.”