Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

31 In the ^(A)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his ^(B)hordes,

¹⁰ ‘Therefore this is what the Lord ^[k]God says: “Because ^[l]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the ^[m]clouds, and its ^(N)heart is haughty in its loftiness, ¹¹ I will hand it over to a ^[n](O)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have ^(P)driven it out. ^12 (Q)Foreign ^(R)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ^(S)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have ^(T)gone down from its shade and left it. ¹³ All the ^(U)birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will ^[o]rest on its fallen branches, ¹⁴ so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the ^[p]clouds, nor will any of their ^[q]well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the ^(V)earth beneath, among ^[r]mankind, ^[s]with those who go down to the pit.”

¹⁵ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I ^(W)caused mourning; I closed the ^[t]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. ¹⁶ I made the nations ^(X)quake from the sound of its fall when I made it ^(Y)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the ^[u]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ^(Z)Lebanon, were ^(AA)comforted in the earth beneath. ¹⁷ They also ^(AB)went down with it to Sheol to those who were ^(AC)slain by the sword; and those who were its ^[v]strength lived ^(AD)in its shade among the nations.

¹⁸ “To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the ^(AE)uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. ^(AF)This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

The Healing at Bethesda

5 After these things there was ^(A)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now in Jerusalem, by ^(B)the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which ^(C)in ^[a]Hebrew is called ^[b]Bethesda, having five ^[c]porticoes. ³ In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or ^[d]paralyzed.^{[e] 5} Now a man was there who had been ^[f]ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶ Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” ⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus *said to him, “^(D)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

^(E)Now it was a Sabbath on that day. ¹⁰ So ^(F)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and ^(G)it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. ¹⁴ Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not ^(H)sin anymore, ^(I)so that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away, and informed ^(J)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ For this reason ^(K)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. ¹⁷ But He answered them, “My Father ^[g]is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with God

¹⁸ For this reason therefore ^(L)the Jews ^(M)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, ^(N)making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(O)the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever ^[h]the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. ^20 (P)For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him ^(Q)greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and ^(R)gives them life, so ^(S)the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ²² For not even the Father judges anyone, but ^(T)He has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. ^(U)The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴ “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and ^(V)believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and ^(W)does not come into judgment, but has ^(X)passed out of death into life.

Greetings of Night Watchers.

A Song of Ascents.