Old/New Testament
What will happen to Jerusalem
11 Then a spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Lord's temple.[a] When I was there, near the entrance of the gate, I could see 25 men. Azzur's son Jaazaniah and Benaiah's son Pelatiah were among them. They were leaders of the people. 2 The Lord said to me. ‘Son of man, these are the men who decide to do evil things in this city. They also give wicked advice to the people. 3 They say, “It is not the right time now to build houses. This city is like a pot to cook meat on a fire. We are like the meat in that pot.”
4 Son of man, you must speak my message to warn them.’
5 Then the Lord's Spirit took hold of me. He said to me, ‘This is the Lord's message to the people: Tell them, “People of Israel, I know what you are saying. I know the thoughts that you have in your minds. 6 You have killed many people in this city. The streets are full of the dead bodies of people that you have killed.”
7 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: “The dead bodies that you have put in this city are the meat. And the city is the pot to cook them in. But as for you, I will remove you from it! 8 You are afraid that an enemy will attack you. So I will bring an army to attack you.” That is what the Almighty Lord says.
9 “I will remove you from this city. I will put you under the power of a foreign army. I will use them to punish you. 10 Enemy soldiers will use their swords to kill you. I will punish you in your own country. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be like a pot where you can be safe. You will not be like the meat in that pot. I will punish you while you are still inside Israel. 12 Then you will know that I am the Lord. You have not obeyed my rules or my laws. Instead, you have lived in the same wicked way as the nations around you.” ’
13 While I was speaking the Lord's message, Benaiah's son Pelatiah died. Then I bent down low with my face towards the ground. I shouted, ‘Almighty Lord, do not do this! You will completely destroy all Israel's people who remain!’
14 Then the Lord gave this message to me: 15 ‘Son of man, listen to what the people of Jerusalem are saying about you, your brothers and your relatives. They say this about all the people of Israel who are now in Babylon. They are saying, “Those people have gone far away from the Lord. So now this land belongs to us and we can keep it.”
16 So say this: “This is what the Almighty Lord says. I removed my people from their own land and I sent them far away. I sent them to live among other nations and in other countries. But I am still near to them in the countries where they have gone.”
17 Then say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says. I will fetch you from the places where you have been living. I will bring you back together from those countries. I will give the land of Israel back to you.”
18 The people will return to their land. Then they will destroy their idols and other disgusting things. 19 I will give them new thoughts so that they will choose to worship only me. I will put a new spirit in them. They will no longer refuse to change their way of life. Instead, I will help them to want to obey me. 20 Then they will know my rules and my laws. They will be careful to obey them. They will be my people and I will be their God. 21 But it will be different for those who continue to worship their disgusting idols. I will punish them as they deserve because of the evil things that they have done. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’
22 Then the cherubs lifted up their wings to fly. The wheels were at their sides. And the bright glory of Israel's God was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord rose up and it went away from the city. It stopped over a mountain on the east side of the city.
24 In the vision, a spirit lifted me up and took me back to Babylon. I returned to the Israelites who were prisoners there. That was the end of the vision.
25 I told the Israelites everything that the Lord had shown me in the vision.
12 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, you are living among a people who refuse to obey me. They have eyes, but they do not see anything. They have ears, but they do not hear anything. They refuse to listen to me.
3 Because of that, son of man, pretend that you are going away as a prisoner. During the day, prepare your things for the journey. While people are watching, prepare to leave your home and go to another place. The people refuse to obey me, but perhaps they will understand what you are doing. 4 Bring out the things that you have prepared for your journey. Do that during the day while the people are watching you. Then leave your home in the evening while they are watching you. Go away like someone who is travelling to a far country as a prisoner. 5 While the people are watching, dig a hole in the wall of your house. Go out through the hole and carry your things with you. 6 Put your bag of things on your shoulder while the people watch you. Carry it out when it starts to become dark. Cover your face so that you cannot see the ground. I want you to do this so that it warns Israel's people about danger.’
7 So I did what the Lord had told me to do. I carried out a bag of my things to show that I was going on a journey. I prepared these things during the day. Then in the evening I used my hands to dig a hole in the wall of my house. When it became dark, I went out. I carried my bag of things on my shoulder. The people watched me do all this.
8 In the morning, the Lord gave this message to me: 9 ‘Son of man, listen to Israel's people who refuse to obey me. They have asked you, “What are you doing?” 10 Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: This is a message about the prince who rules in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.”
11 Tell them, “I am teaching you a lesson to warn you about what will happen to you.” As you have done, the people will have to go as prisoners to another country.
12 Their king will leave Jerusalem when it starts to become dark. He will carry his things on his shoulder as he goes out. They will dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. 13 I will throw my net over him and I will catch him in my trap. I will take him to Babylon city, in the land of the Chaldeans. But he will not see that land. He will die there.[b] 14 I will cause all his officers and soldiers to run away in different directions. Then their enemies will chase after them, to kill them with their swords.
15 I will send the people away from their homes to other countries. They will have to live among foreign people. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 16 But I will save a few of them. War, famine and disease will not kill all of them. When they live among those other nations, they will realize that they have done many disgusting things. And they will know that I am the Lord.’
17 The Lord gave this message to me: 18 ‘Son of man, shake with fear while you eat your food or you drink your water. 19 Then say to the people of Israel, “This is what the Almighty Lord says about the people who live in Jerusalem and in all the land of Israel: They will be afraid while they eat their food. They will shake with fear when they drink their water. An enemy will destroy their land so that nothing remains in it. This will happen because all the people who live there have done violent things. 20 The towns where people live will become heaps of stones. An enemy will destroy the whole land. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’
21 The Lord gave this message to me: 22 ‘Son of man, you have this proverb in the land of Israel: “A long time passes and visions never truly happen.” 23 But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will soon stop you from saying the words of that proverb.” Instead, say to them “The time will soon be here when every vision will truly happen. 24 Israel's people will no longer have visions that are false. Nobody will prophesy things that deceive people. 25 But I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever I say will certainly happen. It will happen very soon. Understand this, you people who refuse to obey me. I will do this while you are still alive. I will do all the things that I have said. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
26 The Lord gave this message to me: 27 ‘Son of man, listen to what Israel's people are saying about you! They say, “The things that you see in your vision will not happen for many years. It will be a long time before his messages become true.” 28 So say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will not wait any longer to do what I have said. I will do everything that I have told you. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
The Lord is against false prophets
13 Then the Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, speak my message to warn Israel's prophets. They are prophesying but they teach only their own ideas. Say to them, “Listen to this message from the Lord. 3 This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to those foolish prophets. They have not seen any vision from me but they tell people their own ideas. 4 People of Israel, your prophets have become like wild dogs that live among heaps of stones. 5 They have not helped you to mend the broken walls of your city. The walls will not be strong enough to keep Israel's people safe on the day of the Lord. That is when I will allow your enemies to attack you. 6 The visions that these prophets see are false. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, ‘The Lord says this,’ when I have not sent them with any message. But they still think that what they say will really happen. 7 Yes, you prophets have seen false visions. You tell lies when you say, ‘The Lord says this.’ You say that, but I have not spoken any message to you!
8 So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to them: I am now your enemy because of your lies. You deceive people when you tell them what will happen. Yes, I have become your enemy. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
9 I will punish the prophets who see false visions and who tell lies. They will not be among the leaders of my people. They will not be on the list of people who are true Israelites. They will not even return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Almighty Lord.
10 Those prophets have deceived my people. They say that there will be peace. But there is no peace for my people. They are like men who build a wall without any mortar.[c] They paint it white to make it look nice. 11 So tell those prophets that their paint is useless. The wall will soon fall down. There will be a lot of rain, hail and strong winds that knock it down. 12 After the wall has fallen down, people will say, ‘That white paint was useless!’
13 So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say: Because I am angry with you, I will send strong winds to destroy your wall. I will send a lot of rain and hail. 14 I will break down your wall with its white paint. I will knock it down to the ground and leave only its foundation. It will fall on you and it will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 15 I will show you that I am very angry. I will destroy the wall and the prophets who painted it white. Then I will say to you, ‘The wall is no longer there. The prophets who painted it are no longer alive.[d] 16 They were prophets of Israel who told lies. They promised that Jerusalem would have peace. But there was really no peace.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.”
17 Now, son of man, you must warn the women among your people who use their own ideas to prophesy. Tell them my message to warn them. 18 Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to those women who make pieces of cloth which they say have magic power. People tie them around their arms and their heads. Those women want to have power over people's lives. They think they can have power over other people's lives but they themselves will be safe. 19 You have made people give you a little bit of barley or bread to eat. That is how they pay you to insult my name! You tell lies to my people, and they listen to you! As a result, you cause people to die who do not deserve to die. And people who do not deserve to live continue to live.
20 So this is what the Almighty Lord says to those women: I hate your pieces of cloth. You use them to catch people in traps, like you catch birds. But I will pull those cloths off your arms. Then those people that you like to catch will become free. 21 I will pull the cloths off your heads. That will rescue my people from your power. You will no longer be able to catch them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 You have used lies to make righteous people stop being strong. But I did not want to hurt those people. You have also helped wicked people to continue to do evil things. You did not want them to change and save their lives. 23 So you women will not see any more false visions. You will no longer pretend that you know future events. I will rescue my people from your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’
James says ‘Hello’
1 This letter is from me, James. I am a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[a]
I am writing to the 12 tribes of God's people who live in many different parts of the world. I say ‘hello’ to all of you.[b]
What to do when you have troubles
2 My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you. 3 God wants to see if you really trust him. Your faith in God will become stronger as a result of these troubles. 4 So you should continue to trust God all the time. Then you will become stronger as a believer. You will become completely how you should be. You will not need anything more.
5 But maybe you need to know how to be wise. Then ask God to help you. He is ready to give everyone what they need. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. So God will help you to be wise. 6 But when you ask God for something, you must trust him completely. Do not have other ideas in your mind. People who are not sure that God will help them are like the waves in the sea. The wind blows the water one way and then it blows the water another way. 7-8 A person who is like that never knows what to do. He has many ideas in his mind. He should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
9 The believers in your group who are poor should be happy. Why? Because God says that they are valuable to him. 10 And the believers who are rich should also be happy. Why? Because God has shown them that they are not so great. Rich people should remember that they will die, like a wild flower quickly dies. 11 When the sun rises, its heat causes plants to become dry. Their flowers fall to the ground. They are no longer beautiful. In the same way, rich people will die when they are busy in their work. Then they will have nothing.
12 Some people continue to trust God even when troubles happen. God will bless those people, if they show that they really trust him. He will give them the gift which is life with him. He has promised to give this gift to all people who love him.
13 When troubles happen to you, you may want to do something bad. But do not say, ‘God is causing me to do wrong things.’ Nothing can make God do anything bad. And God does not try to make anyone do a wrong thing. 14 It is our own thoughts that make us do bad things. When we want to do something wrong, our thoughts lead us in a bad way. 15 We may agree to do what our bad thoughts tell us to do. When we do that, it becomes a sin. Then, we may not stop doing those bad things. If we continue to live like that, the result of our sins is death.[c]
16 My Christian friends, do not make a mistake. 17 Remember that every good gift comes to us from God. He only does what will help us. He is our Father in heaven. He made everything in the sky that gives us light. Those things do not give us the same light all the time. They change, but God does not change. 18 He chose to make us his children. He used his true message to do that. Because of that, we are like the first special gift that belongs to him from among everything that he has made.
Listen and do what God wants
19 Understand this, my Christian friends: We must all be careful to listen. We should not be too quick to speak. We should not get angry quickly. 20 God wants us to do what is right. But when someone is angry, they do not do those right things. 21 So stop doing disgusting things. Stay away from the wicked things that are all around you. God has put his message deep inside you, and it can save you. So be careful to accept that message.
22 But be careful to do what God says in his message. Do not only listen to it. Do not make that mistake! 23 You must obey God's message. Do not be like a man who quickly looks at his face in a mirror. 24 That man looks at himself, but then he goes away. He immediately forgets what he is really like. 25 So do not just listen to God's message and then forget it. It is a completely good message that makes people free. Look at it carefully and keep it in your mind. Do what it tells you to do. God will bless anyone who lives in that way.
26 Maybe some of you think that you are serving God well. But if you also say bad things about people, you do not serve God well at all. You are doing something bad even when you think you are doing good things. 27 If you want to serve God in a completely good way, do things like this: Help children who have no parents and women who are widows. Help them in their troubles. If you serve God our Father like that, he will be pleased with you. Do not let the bad people in this world make you bad too.
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