¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test [while the testing of his faith was ^[a]still in progress], ^[b]had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received and welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,^(A)

¹⁸ Of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your descendants be reckoned.^(B)

¹⁹ For he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead [potentially sacrificed], he did [actually] receive him back from the dead.

²⁰ [With eyes of] faith Isaac, looking far into the future, invoked blessings upon Jacob and Esau.^(C)

²¹ [Prompted] by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in prayer over the top of his staff.^(D)

²² [Actuated] by faith Joseph, when nearing the end of his life, referred to [the promise of God for] the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his own bones.^(E)

²³ [Prompted] by faith Moses, after his birth, was kept concealed for three months by his parents, because they saw how comely the child was; and they were not overawed and terrified by the king’s decree.^(F)

²⁴ [Aroused] by faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and ^[c]become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,^(G)

²⁵ Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life.

²⁶ He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense).

²⁷ [Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible.^(H)

²⁸ By faith (simple trust and confidence in God) he instituted and carried out the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood [on the doorposts], so that the destroyer of the firstborn (the angel) might not touch those [of the children of Israel].^(I)

²⁹ [Urged on] by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as [though] on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing they were swallowed up [by the sea].^(J)

³⁰ Because of faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encompassed for seven days [by the Israelites].^(K)

³¹ [Prompted] by faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed along with those who refused to believe and obey, because she had received the spies in peace [without enmity].^(L)

³² And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,^(M)

³³ Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,^(N)

³⁴ Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.^(O)

³⁵ [Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured ^[d]to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life.^(P)

³⁶ Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated—

³⁸ [Men] of whom the world was not worthy—roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

³⁹ And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,

⁴⁰ Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

22 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

² And you son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge, will you judge the bloodshedding city? Then cause her to know all her abominations,

³ And say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her so that her time [of doom] will come, and makes idols [over those who worship them] to defile her!

⁴ In your blood which you have shed you have become guilty, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made, and you have caused your time [of judgment and punishment] to draw near and have arrived at the full measure of your years. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the [heathen] nations and a mocking to all countries.

⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.

⁶ Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood.

⁷ In you have they treated father and mother lightly; in the midst of you they have dealt unjustly and by oppression in relation to the stranger; in you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.

⁸ You have despised and scorned My sacred things and have profaned My Sabbaths.

⁹ In you are slanderous men who arouse suspicions to shed blood, and in you are they who have eaten [food offered to idols] upon the mountains; in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.

¹⁰ In you men have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness [the nakedness of mother or stepmother]; in you they have humbled women who are [ceremonially] unclean [during their periods or because of childbirth].

¹¹ And one has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

¹² In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [percentage of] increase, and you have greedily gained from your neighbors by oppression and extortion and have forgotten Me, says the Lord God.

¹³ Behold therefore, I have struck My hands together at your dishonest gain which you have made and at the blood which has been in the midst of you.

¹⁴ Can your heart and courage endure or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

¹⁵ And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you.

¹⁶ And you shall be dishonored and profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸ Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become scum and waste matter, behold therefore, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰ As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.

²¹ Yes, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

²² As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have poured out My wrath upon you [O Israel].

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵ There is a conspiracy of [Israel’s false] prophets in the midst of her, like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.

²⁶ Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the sacred and the secular, neither have they taught people the difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷ Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves rending and devouring the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

²⁸ And her prophets have daubed them over with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord God—when the Lord has not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; yes, they have wronged and vexed the poor and needy; yes, they have oppressed the stranger and temporary resident wrongfully.

³⁰ And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

³¹ Therefore have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid [by bringing it] upon their own heads, says the Lord God.