10 Israel’s watchmen(A) are blind,
    they all lack knowledge;(B)
they are all mute dogs,
    they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
    they love to sleep.(C)

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Watch out for those dogs,(A) those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.

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10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(A)
    He has sealed your eyes(B) (the prophets);(C)
    he has covered your heads (the seers).(D)

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14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[a](A) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind

18 King of Assyria, your shepherds[a] slumber;(A)
    your nobles lie down to rest.(B)
Your people are scattered(C) on the mountains
    with no one to gather them.

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Footnotes

  1. Nahum 3:18 That is, rulers

The days of punishment(A) are coming,
    the days of reckoning(B) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(C) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(D)
    the inspired person a maniac.(E)
The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares(F) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’(A)

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    my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(A)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(B) of your God,
    I also will ignore your children.

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16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.(A)”’

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15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.(A) And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days(B)—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:(C) 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman(D) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.(E) 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,(F)’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20

13 “Among the prophets of Samaria
    I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal(A)
    and led my people Israel astray.(B)
14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen something horrible:(C)
    They commit adultery and live a lie.(D)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,(E)
    so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.(F)
They are all like Sodom(G) to me;
    the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”(H)

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13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets(A) keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.(B) Indeed, I will give you lasting peace(C) in this place.’”

14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies(D) in my name. I have not sent(E) them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,(F) divinations,(G) idolatries[a] and the delusions of their own minds.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 14:14 Or visions, worthless divinations

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(D)

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Listen! Your watchmen(A) lift up their voices;(B)
    together they shout for joy.(C)
When the Lord returns(D) to Zion,(E)
    they will see it with their own eyes.

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30 I went past the field of a sluggard,(A)
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(B)
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.(C)

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Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.(A)
Free yourself, like a gazelle(B) from the hand of the hunter,(C)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(D)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;(E)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(F)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(G)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(H)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(I)

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39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?(A) 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.(B)

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34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants(A) in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”(B)

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16 “Woe to you, blind guides!(A) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’(B) 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?(C) 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?(D) 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells(E) in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.(F)

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth(G) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.(H) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides!(I) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,(J) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.(K) 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

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“Go to the great city of Nineveh(A) and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah ran(B) away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish(C). He went down to Joppa,(D) where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.(E)

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.(F) All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.(G)

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call(H) on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”(I)

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26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof(A) of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.(B) 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’(C) Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.(D)

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13 “From the least to the greatest,
    all(A) are greedy for gain;(B)
prophets and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.(C)
14 They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
    when there is no peace.(D)

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