Siege of Jerusalem Predicted

4 “Now you, son of man, ^(A)get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it—Jerusalem. ² Then ^(B)lay siege against it, build a siege wall, pile up an assault ramp, set up camps, and place battering rams against it all around. ³ Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and direct your face toward it so that ^(C)it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a ^(D)sign to the house of Israel.

⁴ “Then you are to lie down on your left side and put the wrongdoing of the house of Israel on it; you shall ^(E)bear their wrongdoing for the number of days that you lie on it. ⁵ For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so ^(F)you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. ⁶ When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for ^(G)each year. ⁷ Then you shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and ^(H)prophesy against it. ⁸ Now behold, I will ^(I)put ropes ^[a]around you so that you cannot turn from your one side to your other until you have completed the days of your siege.

Defiled Bread

⁹ “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and ^(J)spelt, and put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, 390 days. ¹⁰ Your food which you eat shall be ^(K)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. ¹¹ The water you drink shall be a ^[b]sixth of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. ¹² You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human ^(L)dung.” ¹³ Then the Lord said, “In this way the sons of Israel will eat their bread ^(M)unclean among the nations where I will scatter them.” ¹⁴ But I said, “^(N)Oh, Lord ^[c]God! Behold, ^[d]I have ^(O)never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what ^(P)died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has any ^(Q)unclean meat ever entered my mouth!” ¹⁵ Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung, so that you may prepare your bread over it.” ¹⁶ Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to ^(R)break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by ^(S)weight and with anxiety, and drink water by ^(T)measure and in horror, ¹⁷ because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and ^(U)waste away in their guilt.

Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold

5 “As for you, son of man, take a ^(V)sharp sword; take and ^[e]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take ^(W)scales for weighing and divide ^[f]the hair. ² A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the ^(X)days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around ^[g]the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will ^(Y)unsheathe a sword behind them. ³ Take also a few hairs in number from ^[h]them and bind them in the hems of your robes. ⁴ Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will ^[i]spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵ “This is what the Lord ^[j]God says: ‘This is ^(Z)Jerusalem; I have placed her at the ^(AA)center of the nations, with lands around her. ⁶ But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes ^(AB)more than the lands which surround her; for they have ^(AC)rejected My ordinances and have not walked ^[k]in My statutes.’ ⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have ^(AD)more turmoil than the nations that surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, nor acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you,’ ⁸ therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am ^(AE)against you, and I will ^(AF)execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do among you what I have ^(AG)not done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore, ^(AH)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and ^(AI)scatter all your remnant to every wind. ¹¹ Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have ^(AJ)defiled My sanctuary with all your ^(AK)detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. ¹² A third of you will die by ^(AL)plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will ^(AM)scatter to every wind, and I will ^(AN)unsheathe a sword behind them.

¹³ ‘Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be ^(AO)appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have ^(AP)spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you a site of ruins and a ^(AQ)disgrace among the nations that surround you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. ¹⁵ So ^[l]it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a ^(AR)warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I ^(AS)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ When I send against them the ^[m]deadly arrows of famine which ^[n]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break off your ^[o]provision of bread. ^17 (AT)I will send on you famine and vicious animals, and they will bereave you of children; ^(AU)plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

Idolatrous Worship Denounced

6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face toward the ^(AV)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them ³ and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord ^[p]God! This is what the Lord ^[q]God says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword against you, and ^(AW)I will destroy your high places. ⁴ So your ^(AX)altars will become deserted and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. ⁵ I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your ^(AY)bones around your altars. ^6 [r]Everywhere you live, ^(AZ)cities will be in ruins and the high places will be deserted, so that your altars will be in ruins and ^[s]deserted, your ^(BA)idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “However, I will leave a ^(BB)remnant, in that you will have those who ^(BC)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. ⁹ Then those of you who escape will ^(BD)remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have ^[t](BE)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will ^(BF)loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord ^[u]God says: ‘Clap your hands, ^(BG)stamp your foot and say, “^(BH)Woe, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the ^(BI)sword, famine, and plague! ¹² Anyone who is ^(BJ)far away will die by the plague, anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains and is spared from these will die by the famine. So I will ^(BK)expend My wrath on them. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their ^(BL)dead are among their idols around their altars, on ^(BM)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every massive oak with thick branches—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ So through all their dwelling places I will ^(BN)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; so they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

Miracle at Cana

2 On ^(A)the third day there was a wedding in ^(B)Cana of Galilee, and the ^(C)mother of Jesus was there; ² and both Jesus and His ^(D)disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus *said to her, “^[a](E)What business do you have with Me, ^(F)woman? ^(G)My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His ^(H)mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” ⁶ Now there were six stone waterpots standing there ^(I)for the Jewish custom of purification, containing ^[b]two or three measures each. ⁷ Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the ^[c]headwaiter.” And they took it to him. ⁹ Now when the headwaiter tasted the water ^(J)which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom, ¹⁰ and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests ^(K)are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This beginning of His ^[d](L)signs Jesus did in Cana of ^(M)Galilee, and revealed His ^(N)glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After this He went down to ^(O)Capernaum, He and His ^(P)mother, and His ^(Q)brothers and His ^(R)disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

^13 (S)The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ^(T)went up to Jerusalem. ^14 (U)And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ And He made a whip of ^[e]cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ and to those who were selling ^(V)the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making ^(W)My Father’s house a ^[f]place of business!” ¹⁷ His ^(X)disciples remembered that it was written: “^(Y)Zeal for Your house will consume me.” ^18 (Z)The Jews then said to Him, “^(AA)What sign do You show us ^[g]as Your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “^(AB)Destroy this ^[h]temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ^20 (AC)The Jews then said, “It took ^(AD)forty-six years to build this ^[i]temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But He was speaking about ^(AE)the ^[j]temple of His body. ²² So when He was raised from the dead, His ^(AF)disciples ^(AG)remembered that He said this; and they believed ^(AH)the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at ^(AI)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they ^(AJ)observed His signs which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because ^(AK)He knew all people, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, ^(AL)for He Himself knew what was in mankind.