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16 At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman[a] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’[b] and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity,[c] but I will hold you accountable for his death.[d] 19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.[e]
20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle[f] before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he[g] does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”
Isolated and Silenced
22 The hand[h] of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley,[i] and I will speak with you there.” 23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,[j] and I threw myself face down.
24 Then a wind[k] came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord[l] spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove[m] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue[n] and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse,[o] for they are a rebellious house.
Ominous Object Lessons
4 “And you, son of man, take a brick[p] and set it in front of you. Inscribe[q] a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp[r] against it! Post soldiers outside it[s] and station battering rams around it. 3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan[t] and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign[u] for the house of Israel.
4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity[v] of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days[w] for you—390 days.[x] So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.[y]
6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days[z]—I have assigned one day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8 Look here: I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.[aa]
9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,[ab] put them in a single container, and make food[ac] from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side—390 days[ad]—you will eat it. 10 The food you eat will be eight ounces[ae] a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.[af] 11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;[ag] you must drink it at fixed times. 12 And you must eat the food as you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”[ah] 13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations[ai] where I will banish them.”
14 And I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat[aj] has never entered my mouth.”
15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”
16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply[ak] in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.[al]
5 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor.[am] Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard.[an] Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 3 But take a few strands of hair[ao] from those and tie them in the ends of your garment.[ap] 4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire,[aq] and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations[ar] and the countries around her.[as] Indeed, they[at] have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant[au] than the nations around you,[av] you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even[aw] carried out the regulations of the nations around you!
8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I—even I—am against you,[ax] and I will execute judgment[ay] among you while the nations watch.[az] 9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices.[ba] 10 Therefore, fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem,[bb] and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors[bc] to the winds.[bd]
11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare[be] you. 12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you.[bf] A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you,[bg] and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased.[bh] Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy[bi] when I have fully vented my rage against them.
14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 You will be[bj] an object of scorn and taunting,[bk] a prime example of destruction[bl] among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury.[bm] I, the Lord, have spoken! 16 I will shoot against them deadly,[bn] destructive[bo] arrows of famine,[bp] which I will shoot to destroy you.[bq] I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply.[br] 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will take your children from you.[bs] Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you,[bt] and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Judgment on the Mountains of Israel
6 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[bu] the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel,[bv] hear the word of the Sovereign Lord![bw] This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing[bx] a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.[by] 4 Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.[bz] 5 I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols,[ca] and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.[cb] 7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord.[cc]
8 “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands.[cd] 9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize[ce] how I was crushed by their unfaithful[cf] heart that turned from me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves[cg] because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices. 10 They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.[ch]
11 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, “Ah!” because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.[ci] 12 The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these[cj] will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak[ck]—the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them[cl] and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah,[cm] in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
God’s Promised Rest
4 Therefore we must be wary[a] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[b] with those who heard it in faith.[c] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[d] And yet God’s works[e] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[f] 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier:[g] “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God[h] again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[i] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[j] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![k] Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[l] would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s[m] rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God,[n] but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest
14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.[o]
24 How many living things you have made, O Lord![a]
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;[b]
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
25 Over here is the deep, wide sea,[c]
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,[d]
living things both small and large.
26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale[e] you made to play in it.
27 All your creatures[f] wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis.[g]
28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food.[h]
29 When you ignore them, they panic.[i]
When you take away their life’s breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
31 May the splendor of the Lord endure.[j]
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made.[k]
32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist.[l]
34 May my thoughts[m] be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners disappear[n] from the earth,
and the wicked vanish.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord.
27 The one who digs a pit[a] will fall into it;
the one who rolls a stone—it will come back on him.
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