Ezekiel 11-12

English Standard Version

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 ^(A)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to ^(B)the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were ^(C)twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah ^(D)the son of Azzur, and ^(E)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ²And he said to me, ^(F)“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ³^(G)who say, ^(H)‘The time is not near^[a] to build houses. ^(I)This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”

⁵And ^(J)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. ^(K)For I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶^(L)You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(M)Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, ^(N)they are the meat, and ^(O)this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. ⁸^(P)You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. ⁹And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ^(Q)give you into the hands of foreigners, and ^(R)execute judgments upon you. ¹⁰^(S)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ^(T)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹^(U)This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ¹²and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, ^(V)but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

¹³And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, ^(W)that ^(X)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. ^(Y)Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, ^(Z)“Ah, Lord God! ^(AA)Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

Israel's New Heart and Spirit

¹⁴And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵^(AB)“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,^[b] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ^(AC)‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet ^(AD)I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^[c] in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(AE)I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, ^(AF)and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸And when they come there, ^(AG)they will remove from it all its ^(AH)detestable things and all its abominations. ¹⁹^(AI)And I will give them one heart, and ^(AJ)a new spirit I will put within them. ^(AK)I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh ^(AL)and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰^(AM)that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. ^(AN)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹^(AO)But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, ^(AP)I will^[d] bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

²²^(AQ)Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, ^(AR)and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(AS)stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. ²⁴^(AT)And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me ^(AU)in the vision by the Spirit of God ^(AV)into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Judah's Captivity Symbolized

12 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(AW)“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of ^(AX)a rebellious house, ^(AY)who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are ^(AZ)a rebellious house. ³As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself ^(BA)an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day ^(BB)in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place ^(BC)in their sight. ^(BD)Perhaps they will understand, though^[e] they are a rebellious house. ⁴You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself ^(BE)at evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. ⁵In their sight ^(BF)dig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. ⁶In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you ^(BG)a sign for the house of Israel.”

⁷^(BH)And I did as I was commanded. ^(BI)I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹^(BJ)“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, ^(BK)the rebellious house, said to you, ^(BL)‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns^[f] ^(BM)the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’^[g] ¹¹Say, ^(BN)‘I am a sign for you: ^(BO)as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’ ¹²^(BP)And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. ^(BQ)They shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. ^(BR)He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. ¹³^(BS)And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And ^(BT)I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, ^(BU)yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. ¹⁴^(BV)And I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, ^(BW)and I will unsheathe the sword after them. ¹⁵^(BX)And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. ¹⁶^(BY)But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, ^(BZ)and may know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸^(CA)“Son of man, ^(CB)eat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety. ¹⁹And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: ^(CC)They shall eat their bread with anxiety, ^(CD)and drink water in dismay. In this way ^(CE)her land will be stripped of all it contains, ^(CF)on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. ²⁰^(CG)And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

²¹And the word of the Lord came to me: ²²“Son of man, ^(CH)what is this proverb that you^[h] have about the land of Israel, saying, ^(CI)‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? ²³Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, ^(CJ)The days are near, and the fulfillment^[i] of every vision. ²⁴^(CK)For there shall be no more any ^(CL)false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵For I am the Lord; I will speak ^(CM)the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. ^(CN)It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, ^(CO)O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”

²⁶And the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ^(CP)‘The vision that he sees is ^(CQ)for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ ²⁸Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(CR)None of my words will be delayed any longer, ^(CS)but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 11:3 Or Is not the time near… ?
Ezekiel 11:15 Hebrew the men of your redemption
Ezekiel 11:16 Or in small measure
Ezekiel 11:21 Hebrew To the heart of their detestable things and their abominations their heart goes; I will
Ezekiel 12:3 Or will see that
Ezekiel 12:10 Or This burden is
Ezekiel 12:10 Hebrew in the midst of them
Ezekiel 12:22 The Hebrew for you is plural
Ezekiel 12:23 Hebrew word

Song of Solomon 8

English Standard Version

Longing for Her Beloved

8 Oh that you were like a brother to me
    who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
    and none would despise me.
²I would lead you and ^(A)bring you
    into the house of my mother—
    she who used to teach me.
I would give you ^(B)spiced wine to drink,
    the juice of my pomegranate.
³^(C)His left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand embraces me!
⁴I ^(D)adjure you, O ^(E)daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(F)that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

⁵^(G)Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,
    as ^(H)a seal upon your arm,
for ^(I)love is strong as death,
    ^(J)jealousy^[a] is fierce as the grave.^[b]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
    the very ^(K)flame of the Lord.
⁷Many waters cannot quench love,
    neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
    all the wealth of his ^(L)house,
    he^[c] would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

⁸We have a little sister,
    and she ^(M)has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day when she is spoken for?
⁹If she is a wall,
    we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
    we will enclose her with ^(N)boards of cedar.

She

¹⁰^(O)I was a wall,
and my ^(P)breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds^[d] peace.

¹¹Solomon had ^(Q)a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
    he ^(R)let out the vineyard to ^(S)keepers;
    each one was to bring for its fruit ^(T)a thousand pieces of silver.
¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
    and ^(U)the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

¹³^(V)O you who dwell in the gardens,
with ^(W)companions listening for your voice;
^(X)let me hear it.

She

¹⁴^(Y)Make haste, my beloved,
and be ^(Z)like a gazelle
or a young stag
on ^(AA)the mountains of spices.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 8:6 Or ardor
Song of Solomon 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol
Song of Solomon 8:7 Or it
Song of Solomon 8:10 Or brings out

James 5

English Standard Version

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(A)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(B)miseries that are coming upon you. ²^(C)Your riches have rotted and ^(D)your garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(E)You have laid up treasure ^(F)in the last days. ⁴Behold, ^(G)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(H)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(I)the Lord of hosts. ⁵^(J)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(K)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(L)a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and ^(M)murdered ^(N)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(O)the early and the late rains. ⁸You also, be patient. ^(P)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(Q)is at hand. ⁹Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(R)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(S)the Judge is standing ^(T)at the door. ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(U)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(V)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(W)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(X)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brothers, ^(Y)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^(Z)sing praise. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(AA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^(AB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, ^(AC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^(AD)that you may be healed. ^(AE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^[b] ¹⁷Elijah was a man ^(AF)with a nature like ours, and ^(AG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^(AH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸^(AI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, ^(AJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^(AK)brings him back, ²⁰let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^(AL)will save his soul from death and ^(AM)will cover a multitude of sins.