¹⁵ Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there for ^(A)seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

¹⁶ Now ^(B)at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you as a ^(C)watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ^(D)warn them from Me. ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his ^(E)blood I will require from your hand. ¹⁹ However if you have ^(F)warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have ^(G)saved yourself. ²⁰ Again, ^(H)when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an ^(I)obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand. ²¹ However, if you have ^(J)warned ^[a]the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.”

²² Now the hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will ^(K)speak to you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the ^(L)glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory that ^(M)I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ But the ^(N)Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵ And as for you, son of man, they will ^(O)put ropes ^[b]around you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them. ²⁶ Moreover, ^(P)I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak and will not be a man who reprimands them, since they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But ^(Q)when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[c]God says:’ The one who hears, let him hear; and the one who refuses, let him refuse; ^(R)for they are a rebellious house.

^20 (A)If you have died with Christ ^[a]to the ^(B)elementary principles of the world, ^(C)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ^(D)decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” ²² (which all refer ^(E)to things destined to perish ^[b]with use)—in accordance with the ^(F)commandments and teachings of man? ²³ These are matters which do have the ^[c]appearance of wisdom in ^[d](G)self-made religion and humility and ^(H)severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against ^(I)fleshly indulgence.

Put On the New Self

3 Therefore, if you have been ^(J)raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, ^(K)seated at the right hand of God. ^2 [e](L)Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have ^(M)died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, ^(N)who is our life, is revealed, ^(O)then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

^5 (P)Therefore, ^[f]treat ^(Q)the parts of your earthly body as dead to ^(R)sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which ^[g]amounts to idolatry. ⁶ For it is because of these things that ^(S)the wrath of God is coming ^[h]upon the ^[i]sons of disobedience, ⁷ and ^(T)in them you also once walked, when you were living ^[j]in them. ⁸ But now you also, ^(U)rid yourselves of all of them: ^(V)anger, wrath, malice, slander, and ^(W)obscene speech from your mouth. ^9 [k](X)Do not lie to one another, since you ^(Y)stripped off the old ^[l]self with its evil practices, ¹⁰ and have ^(Z)put on the new self, which is being ^[m](AA)renewed to a true knowledge ^(AB)according to the image of the One who ^(AC)created it— ¹¹ a renewal in which ^(AD)there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, ^(AE)circumcised and uncircumcised, ^[n](AF)barbarian, ^[o]Scythian, ^(AG)slave, and free, but ^(AH)Christ is all, and in all.

Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem

8 Now it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord ^[a]God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of ^[b]a man; from His waist and downward there was the ^(A)appearance of fire, and from His waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like ^(B)gleaming ^[c]metal. ³ And He extended the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the ^(C)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^[d]north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(D)provokes to jealousy, was located. ⁴ And behold, the ^(E)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(F)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this ^(G)idol of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(H)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations!”

⁷ Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. ⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, now ^(I)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of crawling things and animals and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. ¹¹ And standing in front of them were ^(J)seventy ^(K)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(L)censer in his hand; and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising. ¹² Then He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his carved images? For they say, ‘^(M)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has ^(N)abandoned the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the entrance of the ^(O)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for ^[e]Tammuz. ¹⁵ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!”

¹⁶ Then He brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their ^(P)backs to the temple of the Lord while their faces were toward the east; and ^(Q)they were ^[f]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. ¹⁷ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(R)filled the land with violence and ^(S)provoked Me to anger repeatedly? Yet behold, they are ^[g]putting the twig to their nose! ¹⁸ Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(T)though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

Jesus’ Warning

16 “^(A)These things I have spoken to you so that you will not ^[a]be ^(B)led into sin. ² They will ^[b](C)ban you from the synagogue, yet ^(D)an hour is coming for everyone ^(E)who kills you to think that he is offering a ^[c]service to God. ³ These things they will do ^(F)because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴ But these things I have spoken to you, ^(G)so that when their hour comes, you ^[d]may remember that I told you of them. However, I did not say these things to you ^(H)at the beginning, because I was with you.

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁵ “But now ^(I)I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘^(J)Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(K)grief has filled your heart. ⁷ But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the ^[e](L)Helper will not come to you; but if I go, ^(M)I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: ⁹ regarding sin, ^(N)because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and regarding ^(O)righteousness, because ^(P)I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; ^11 (Q)and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. ¹³ But when He, ^(R)the Spirit of truth, comes, He will ^(S)guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will ^(T)glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. ^15 (U)All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold

¹⁶ “^(V)A little while, and ^(W)you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and ^(X)you will see Me.” ¹⁷ So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘^(Y)A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because ^(Z)I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” ^19 (AA)Jesus knew that they wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you that ^(AB)you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but ^(AC)your grief will be turned into joy! ^21 (AD)Whenever a woman is in labor she has ^[f]pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a ^[g]child has been born into the world. ²² Therefore ^(AE)you too have grief now; but ^(AF)I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.

Prayer Promises

²³ And ^(AG)on that day ^(AH)you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly I say to you, ^(AI)if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. ^24 (AJ)Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your ^(AK)joy may be made full.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you in ^(AL)figures of speech; ^(AM)an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. ^26 (AN)On that day ^(AO)you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for ^(AP)the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and ^(AQ)have believed that ^(AR)I came forth from the Father. ^28 (AS)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and ^(AT)going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples *said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and are not ^[h]using any ^(AU)figure of speech. ³⁰ Now we know that You know all things, and that You have no need for anyone to question You; this is why we ^(AV)believe that You ^(AW)came forth from God.” ³¹ Jesus replied to them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, ^(AX)an hour is coming, and has already come, for ^(AY)you to be scattered, each to ^(AZ)his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet ^(BA)I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ These things I have spoken to you so that ^(BB)in Me you may have peace. ^(BC)In the world you have tribulation, but ^(BD)take courage; ^(BE)I have overcome the world.”