Old/New Testament
Chapter 35[a]
Against Edom. 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it: Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir
I will stretch out my hand against you
and reduce you to a desolate waste.
4 I will lay your towns in ruins,
and you will become a wasteland.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 Because you refused to cease an ancient feud,
you handed over the people of Israel
to the power of the sword
on the day of their distress,
the hour of their final punishment.
6 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God,
blood shall be your destiny,
and it will pursue you.
Since by shedding blood you incurred guilt,
bloodshed will pursue you.
7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste
and prevent anyone from going there or departing.
8 I will fill its mountains with the slain;
those slain by the sword will fall
on your hills and in your valleys and ravines.
9 I will make you desolate forever,
and your towns will never again be inhabited.
Thus, you shall know that I am the Lord.
10 Because you said, “These two nations and the two lands will be mine, and we will take possession of them,” even though I, the Lord, was there, 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will act with the same anger and jealousy that you showed in your hatred for them, and I will make myself known among you when I judge you.
12 You will know that I, the Lord, have heard of all the contemptible things you have uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They have been laid waste and have been given to us to devour.” 13 You made insolent remarks about me and showed no restraint in your insults, and I have heard them.
14 Thus says the Lord God: I will make you a desolate wasteland, and the entire earth will rejoice. 15 As you were unable to conceal your joy over the devastation of the heritage of the house of Israel, so will I treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Thus, they shall know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 36
Restoration of the Land.[b] 1 Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God, The enemy has gloated over you, saying: “Aha! These ancient heights have become our possession.”
3 In reply, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Since you have been ravaged and hounded from all sides, and thus have become the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s gossip and slander, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God and what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns which have been plundered and have become a source of ridicule to the surrounding nations.
5 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: With seething jealousy I am speaking against the rest of the nations, and against the whole of Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my country as their possession so that they might plunder its pastures.
6 Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I am speaking with jealous fury because you have been forced to endure the insults of the nations. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I raise my hand and swear that the nations all around you will have to endure insults.
8 As for you, mountains of Israel, you shall grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon return home. 9 Behold, I am coming to you. It is to you that I shall turn. You will be tilled and sown, 10 and I will multiply your population, that of the whole house of Israel. The towns will again be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
11 Furthermore, I will settle large numbers of human beings and animals upon you. They will multiply and be fruitful, and I will make you as populous as in your former times. Moreover, I will make you more prosperous than ever before. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause my people Israel to tread your soil once again. They will possess you, and you will be their heritage. Never again will they be left childless.
13 Thus says the Lord God: Because it has been said of you, “You are a land that devours people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore, you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, says the Lord God. 15 I will never again let you hear the taunts of the nations; no longer will you be forced to endure the insults of the peoples; no longer will your people be deprived of their children, says the Lord God.
16 Restoration of the People.[c]This word of the Lord was addressed to me: 17 Son of man, when the people of the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it with their conduct and their deeds. In my eyes, their conduct was like the uncleanness of a woman during her menstrual period.
18 Therefore, I poured out my wrath upon them because of the blood that they had shed upon the land, and because of their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them throughout the nations, and they were dispersed in many lands. I passed sentence on them in accordance with their conduct and their deeds.
20 But whenever they came to the nations, they profaned my holy name, so that the people there would say about them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they have been banished from his land.” 21 However, I have relented because of my concern about my holy name which the house of Israel has profaned among the nations where they have gone.
22 Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am acting, but for the sake of my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I intend to prove the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. Thus, the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I will display my holiness in their sight.
24 I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the foreign lands, and I will bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from everything that defiles you. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you. I will remove from your body a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh in its place. 27 I will put my Spirit in you and make you follow my statutes and my ordinances.
28 Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, but I shall be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be abundant and not allow any famine to afflict you. 30 I will make abundant the fruit of the trees and the crops in your fields, so that you will never have to suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31 Then you will remember your evil conduct and your wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and your abominable deeds. 32 I assure you that it is not for your sake that I am doing all this, says the Lord God. Let that be clearly understood. Be ashamed and feel intense disgrace for your conduct, O house of Israel.
33 Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I cleanse you from all your sins, I will repopulate your towns, and your ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The wasteland will be cultivated instead of being a desolate sight to all who walk past it.
35 People will say, “The land that was desolate is now like the Garden of Eden, and the towns that were once in ruins, desolate wastelands, are now inhabited once again and fortified.” 36 Then the neighboring nations that are still left around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the Lord God: I also will allow the house of Israel to persuade me to do this for them: I shall increase their numbers like a flock. 38 Like the flocks of sacrificial sheep in Jerusalem on its appointed feasts, so shall the formerly ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Salutation
Chapter 1
Address.[a] 1 Simon Peter,[b] a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 may grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge[c] of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Exhortation to Growth in Christian Virtues
Strengthen Your Vocation.[d] 3 His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. 4 By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature.[e]
5 [f]In view of all this, you should make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with piety, 7 and piety with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
8 If you possess these qualities and they increase in abundance, they will prevent your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ from being ineffective and unfruitful. 9 For anyone who lacks them is near-sighted or blind, since he has forgotten how his past sins were washed away.[g]
10 Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[h]
12 The Witness of an Apostle.[i] Therefore, I will continue to emphasize these things repeatedly, even though you already know them and are well grounded in the truth you possess. 13 For I think it is right, to refresh your memory as long as I remain in this body,[j] 14 since I know that my death[k] will come soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I shall also make every effort to ensure that you will always recall these things after my departure.
16 We did not rely upon cleverly concocted myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, we had beheld his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the transcendent Majesty, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came down from heaven, when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 Pay Close Attention to the Message of the Prophets.[l] This confirms the message of the Prophets more fully for us. You would do well to pay close attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 First of all, however, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private interpretation. 21 No prophecy ever came from human initiative. Rather, when people spoke as messengers of God, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.[m]
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.