I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Ethan the Ezrahite.

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “And you, ^(A)son of man, ^(B)take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. ^2 (C)And put siegeworks against it, ^(D)and build a siege wall against it, ^(E)and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ^(F)and plant battering rams against it all around. ³ And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; ^(G)and set your face toward it, ^(H)and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ^(I)a sign for the house of Israel.

⁴ “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment^[a] of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ^(J)you shall bear their punishment. ⁵ For I assign to you a number of days, ^(K)390 days, ^(L)equal to the number of the years of their punishment. ^(M)So long shall you bear ^(N)the punishment of the house of Israel. ⁶ And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ^(O)bear ^(P)the punishment of the house of Judah. ^(Q)Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. ^7 (R)And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ^(S)with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. ⁸ And behold, ^(T)I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed ^(U)the days of your siege.

⁹ “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,^[b] and put them into a single vessel and make your ^(V)bread from them. ^(W)During the number of days that you lie on your side, ^(X)390 days, you shall eat it. ¹⁰ And your food that you eat shall be ^(Y)by weight, ^(Z)twenty shekels^[c] a day; from day to day^[d] you shall eat it. ¹¹ And water you shall drink ^(AA)by measure, the sixth part of a hin;^[e] from day to day you shall drink. ¹² And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^(AB)in their sight on human dung.” ¹³ And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^(AC)their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” ¹⁴ Then I said, ^(AD)“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.^{[f] (AE)}From my youth up till now I have never eaten ^(AF)what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has ^(AG)tainted meat come into my mouth.” ¹⁵ Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” ¹⁶ Moreover, he said to me, ^(AH)“Son of man, behold, ^(AI)I will break the supply^[g] of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread ^(AJ)by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water ^(AK)by measure and in dismay. ¹⁷ I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ^(AL)look at one another in dismay, and ^(AM)rot away because of their punishment.

6 Therefore ^(A)let us leave ^(B)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(C)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(D)instruction about washings,^{[a] (E)}the laying on of hands, ^(F)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(G)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(H)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(I)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(J)the heavenly gift, and ^(K)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(L)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(M)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(N)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(O)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(P)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(Q)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(R)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(S)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(T)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(U)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(V)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for ^(A)him to be taken up, ^(B)he set his face ^(C)to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And ^(D)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^(E)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But ^(F)the people did not receive him, because ^(G)his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^(H)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[a] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^{[b] 56} And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(I)along the road, ^(J)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[c] said to him, “Leave ^(K)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(L)proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^(M)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(N)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”