Old/New Testament

11 Then the Ruach lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of Adonai’s House, facing east. Behold, at the door of the gate, were 25 men. I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men that devise sin and give wicked counsel in this city, ³ who say, ‘This is not the time to build houses! This city is the cooking pot and we are the meat!’ ⁴ Therefore, prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.”

⁵ Then the Ruach Adonai fell upon me and said to me, “Speak! Thus Adonai says: So you are thinking, house of Israel—for I know the thoughts that come into your mind. ⁶ You have multiplied your slain in this city and you filled the streets with corpses.”

⁷ Therefore, thus says Adonai Elohim, “Your corpses you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat and this city is the cooking pot! But I will bring you out of it. ⁸ You feared the sword, so I will bring the sword against you.” It is a declaration of Adonai Elohim.

⁹ “I will bring you out of the midst of it, give you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. So you will know that I am Adonai. ¹¹ This city will not be your cooking pot nor will you be the meat in the midst of it—I will judge you at Israel’s border. ¹² So you will know that I am Adonai, whose laws you did not follow and whose ordinances you did not obey. Instead, you have acted in accord with the ordinances of the nations around you.”

¹³ As I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I fell upon my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Adonai! Are you going to completely eradicate the remnant of Israel?”

¹⁴ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ¹⁵ “Son of man, as for your kinsmen, your kinsmen, fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel—all of them—are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, ‘Keep far away from Adonai! This land has been given to us for a possession!’” ¹⁶ Therefore say, thus says Adonai Elohim, “Though I removed them far away, among the nations, though I scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I was a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”

Heart of Stone to Heart of Flesh

¹⁷ Therefore say, thus says Adonai Elohim, “I will gather you from the peoples and collect you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸ When they come there, they will remove all of its detestable things and all of its abominations. ¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart. I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ so that they may follow My laws, keep My ordinances and practice them. They will be My people and I will be their God. ²¹ As for those whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their ways upon their heads.” It is a declaration of Adonai Elohim.

The Glory Departs Jerusalem

²² Then the cheruvim lifted up their wings. The wheels were beside them. The glory of the God of Israel was over them from above. ²³ The glory of Adonai went up from within the city and then stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. ²⁴ The Ruach lifted me and brought me in the vision by the Ruach Elohim to Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. ²⁵ So I told the exiles all the things that Adonai had shown me.

Baggage for Exile

12 The word of Adonai came to me saying: ² “Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house. They have eyes to see, but do not see, ears to hear, but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. ³ You, son of man, prepare supplies for exile. Go into exile by day in their sight, go away as if into exile from your home to another place in their sight—perhaps they will recognize that they are a rebellious house. ⁴ You will bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. You will go out at evening in their sight, like those going into exile. ⁵ As they watch, dig through the wall and go out through it. ⁶ Bear the burden on your shoulder in their sight. Carry it out in the darkness; cover your face so that you cannot see the ground. For I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” ⁷ I did just as I was commanded: I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile. In the evening, I dug through the wall with my hand. I carried it out in the darkness and bore it on my shoulder, as they watched.

⁸ In the morning, the word of Adonai came to me saying, ⁹ “Son of man, has the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘Thus says Adonai Elohim: this burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel there.’ ¹¹ Say, ‘I am a sign for you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them—they will go into exile, into captivity. ¹² The prince who is among them will bear a burden on his shoulder, and go out in the darkness. They will dig through the wall to get out; he will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³ I will spread out My net upon him, so he will be caught in My net. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans. He will not see it, though he will die there. ¹⁴ I will disperse toward every wind all that surround him to help him and all his troops. I will draw out the sword after them. ¹⁵ So they will know that I am Adonai when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the countries. ¹⁶ But I will let a few of them escape the sword, the famine and the pestilence, so they may tell about all their detestable practices among the nations where they go. And they will know that I am Adonai.”

¹⁷ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ¹⁸ “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. ¹⁹ Say to the people of the land, this is what Adonai says concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because her land will be stripped of all that is in it, because of the violence of all who live there. ²⁰ The inhabited cities will be deserted and the land will become desolate. And you will know that I am Adonai.”

²¹ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ²² “Son of man, what is that proverb you people have in the land of Israel saying, ‘The days are prolonged and every vision fails?’ ²³ Tell them therefore, thus says Adonai Elohim, ‘I will put an end to this proverb. They will not use it anymore as a proverb in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are at hand as well as the fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For no longer will every vision be deceitful and every oracle false in the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am Adonai. I will speak whatever word I will speak and it will happen. It will not be delayed anymore; for in your days, rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it.’” It is a declaration of Adonai.

²⁶ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ²⁷ “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel says, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now. He prophesies about times that are far off.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim, ‘None of My words will be delayed anymore, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled.’” It is a declaration of Adonai.

False Prophets

13 The word of Adonai came to me saying: ² “Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, hear the word of Adonai, ³ thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit—except they have seen nothing! ⁴ O Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You have not gone up into the breaches and repaired the walls for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Adonai. ⁶ They have prophesied emptiness and predicted falsely, who say, “Adonai says.” Adonai has not sent them, yet they hope for confirmation of their word. ⁷ Did you not see an empty vision and speak a false omen, when you say, “Adonai says”—when I have not spoken?’”

⁸ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “Because you have spoken falsely and prophesied lies, therefore behold, I am against you.” It is a declaration of Adonai. ⁹ “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not remain in the assembly of My people, nor will they be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor enter into the land of Israel. You will know that I am Adonai. ¹⁰ Precisely because they have led My people astray saying, ‘Shalom’ when there is no shalom, they build a weak wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash. ¹¹ Say to those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. There will be a down-pouring rain, and on you great hailstones will fall, and a storm wind will break out. ¹² Behold, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said about you, ‘Where is the whitewash that you plastered it with?’’’

¹³ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “I will cause a storm wind to burst out in My fury. There will be a down-pouring rain in My anger and great hailstones in destructive wrath. ¹⁴ I will tear down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation of it is exposed. It will collapse and you will be consumed within it. Then you will know that I am Adonai. ¹⁵ I will spend My wrath against the wall and against those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to you, the wall is no more! The whitewashers are no more— ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and see visions of shalom for her, when there is no shalom.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁷ “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ saying, thus says Adonai Elohim, ‘Oy to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of every size for their heads in order to ensnare souls! You hunt down the souls of My people, but preserve yourselves. ¹⁹ You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and crumbs of bread, to kill those who should not die and to save those who should not live, by lying to My people, who listen to lies.’”

²⁰ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim, “Behold, I am against your magic charms with which you hunt people like birds. I will tear them from your arms. I will deliver the people you hunt like birds. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands. They will never again be in your hand to be hunted. So you will know that I am Adonai. ²² Because you have discouraged the hearts of the righteous with your lies, when I have not grieved him; and strengthened the hands of the wicked so he may not return from his wicked way and live, ²³ therefore you will no longer see false visions or utter lying divinations again. I will deliver My people out of your hand. Then you will know that I am Adonai.”

Greetings

1 Jacob, a slave of God and of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah,

To the twelve tribes in the Diaspora:

Shalom!

Rejoice in Trials

² Consider it all joy, my brethren,^[a] when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,^[b] who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, without any doubting—for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord— ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹ But let the brother in humble circumstances boast in his high position— ¹⁰ and the rich person in his humble position, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun arises with a scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.^[c] So also the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

¹² Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”—for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is full grown, it brings forth death.^[d]

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. ¹⁸ By His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.^[e]

Quick to Listen, Slow to Anger

¹⁹ Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger^[f]— ²⁰ for human anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. ²¹ So put away all moral filth and excess of evil and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror— ²⁴ for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was. ²⁵ But the one who looks intently into the perfect Torah, the Torah that gives freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts—he shall be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious and yet does not bridle his tongue^[g] but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is futile. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress,^[h] and to keep oneself unstained by the world.