Judgement Not Postponed

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Mortal, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; ¹⁹ and say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it. ²⁰ The inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

²¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ²² Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel, which says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing’? ²³ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfilment of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed; but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfil it, says the Lord God.

²⁶ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷ Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.

Psalm 25

Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance

Of David.

Warning against Judging Another

¹¹ Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters.^[a] Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbour?

Boasting about Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ ¹⁴ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.