A Lament for the Princes of Israel

19 And you, ^(A)take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ² and say:

This is ^(U)a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Israel's Continuing Rebellion

20 ^(V)In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^(W)the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^(X)and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^3 (Y)“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? ^(Z)As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(AA)I will not be inquired of by you. ^4 (AB)Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^(AC)Let them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵ and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AD)On the day when I chose Israel, ^(AE)I swore^[e] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, ^(AF)making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^(AG)I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. ⁶ On that day I swore to them that ^(AH)I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^(AI)flowing with milk and honey, ^(AJ)the most glorious of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, ^(AK)‘Cast away the detestable things ^(AL)your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^(AM)the idols of Egypt; ^(AN)I am the Lord your God.’ ^8 (AO)But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^(AP)None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^(AQ)and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ^9 (AR)But I acted ^(AS)for the sake of my name, ^(AT)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^(AU)in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ^10 (AV)So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ^11 (AW)I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^(AX)by which, if a person does them, he shall live. ¹² Moreover, I gave them ^(AY)my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^(AZ)that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ^13 (BA)But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^(BB)They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^(BC)and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^(BD)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^(BE)in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Moreover, ^(BF)I swore to them in the wilderness ^(BG)that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^(BH)flowing with milk and honey, ^(BI)the most glorious of all lands, ¹⁶ because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; ^(BJ)for their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, ^(BK)my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or ^(BL)make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “And I said to ^(BM)their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk ^(BN)in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, ^(BO)nor defile yourselves with their idols. ^19 (BP)I am the Lord your God; ^(BQ)walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, ²⁰ and ^(BR)keep my Sabbaths holy that ^(BS)they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ ^21 (BT)But the children ^(BU)rebelled against me. ^(BV)They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

^(BW)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ^22 (BX)But I withheld my hand ^(BY)and acted for the sake of my name, ^(BZ)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ^23 (CA)Moreover, ^(CB)I swore to them in the wilderness ^(CC)that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, ²⁴ because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, ^(CD)and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. ^25 (CE)Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, ²⁶ and I defiled them through ^(CF)their very gifts ^(CG)in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it ^(CH)that they might know that I am the Lord.

²⁷ “Therefore, ^(CI)son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by ^(CJ)dealing treacherously with me. ²⁸ For when I had brought them into the land that ^(CK)I swore to give them, then wherever they saw ^(CL)any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented ^(CM)the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ (I said to them, ^(CN)‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah^[f] to this day.)

³⁰ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(CO)Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go ^(CP)whoring after their detestable things? ³¹ When you present your gifts and ^(CQ)offer up your children in fire,^[g] you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And ^(CR)shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? ^(CS)As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

^32 (CT)“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ^(CU)‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, ^(CV)and worship wood and stone.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

^33 (CW)“As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(CX)surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and ^(CY)with wrath poured out I will be king over you. ^34 (CZ)I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. ^35 (DA)And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, ^(DB)and there I will enter into judgment with you ^(DC)face to face. ^36 (DD)As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. ³⁷ I will make you ^(DE)pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ^38 (DF)I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. ^(DG)I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, ^(DH)but they shall not enter the land of Israel. ^(DI)Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: ^(DJ)Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; ^(DK)but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

^40 (DL)“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there ^(DM)all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. ^(DN)There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. ⁴¹ As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when ^(DO)I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And ^(DP)I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ^42 (DQ)And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that ^(DR)I swore to give to your fathers. ^43 (DS)And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, ^(DT)and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. ⁴⁴ And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(DU)when I deal with you for my name's sake, ^(DV)not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

^45 [h] And the word of the Lord came to me: ^46 (DW)“Son of man, ^(DX)set your face toward the southland;^{[i] (DY)}preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. ⁴⁷ Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, ^(DZ)I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every ^(EA)green tree in you and every ^(EB)dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and ^(EC)all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. ^48 (ED)All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ⁴⁹ Then I said, ^(EE)“Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ^(EF)‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”

Personal Instructions

^9 (A)Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For ^(B)Demas, ^(C)in love with ^(D)this present world, ^(E)has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{[a] (F)}Titus to Dalmatia. ^11 (G)Luke alone is with me. Get ^(H)Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ^12 (I)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. ^14 (J)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^(K)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. ^(L)May it not be charged against them! ¹⁷ But ^(M)the Lord stood by me and ^(N)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^(O)all the Gentiles might hear it. So ^(P)I was rescued ^(Q)from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^(R)To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

¹⁹ Greet ^(S)Prisca and Aquila, and ^(T)the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left ^(U)Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. ^21 (V)Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.^[b]

²² The Lord be ^(W)with your spirit. ^(X)Grace be with you.^[c]

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant^[a] of God and ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and ^(B)their knowledge of the truth, ^(C)which accords with godliness, ^2 (D)in hope of eternal life, which God, ^(E)who never lies, ^(F)promised ^(G)before the ages began^{[b] 3} and ^(H)at the proper time manifested in his word^{[c] (I)}through the preaching ^(J)with which I have been entrusted ^(K)by the command of God our Savior;

⁴ To Titus, ^(L)my true child in ^(M)a common faith:

^(N)Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

^5 (O)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(P)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ^6 (Q)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[d] and his children are believers^[e] and not open to the charge of ^(R)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer,^{[f] (S)}as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(T)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(U)or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(V)and disciplined. ⁹ He must ^(W)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(X)sound^[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(Y)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(Z)the circumcision party.^{[h] 11} They must be silenced, since ^(AA)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(AB)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ^12 (AC)One of the Cretans,^[i] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^{[j] 13} This testimony is true. Therefore ^(AD)rebuke them ^(AE)sharply, that they ^(AF)may be sound in the faith, ^14 (AG)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(AH)the commands of people ^(AI)who turn away from the truth. ^15 (AJ)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(AK)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(AL)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ^16 (AM)They profess to know God, but they ^(AN)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(AO)unfit for any good work.

Pe