Old/New Testament
Parable of the Boiling Pot
24 Again in the ninth year [of King Jehoiachin’s captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, record the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 Speak a parable against the rebellious house [of Judah] and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Put on a pot; put it on and also pour water into it;
4
“Put in it the pieces [of meat],
Every good piece (the people of Jerusalem), the thigh and the shoulder;
Fill it with choice bones.
5
“Take the choicest of the flock,
And also pile wood under the pot.
Make it boil vigorously
And boil its bones in the pot.”
6
‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“Woe (judgment is coming) to the bloody city,
To the pot in which there is rust
And whose rust has not gone out of it!
Take out of it piece by piece,
Without making any choice.
7
“For her blood [that she has shed] remains in her midst;
She put it on the bare rock;
She did not pour it on the ground
To cover it with dust.
8
“That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance,
I have put her blood [guilt for her children sacrificed to Molech] on the bare rock,
That it may not be covered.”
9
‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“Woe to the bloody city!
I will also make the pile [of wood] high.
10
“Heap on wood, kindle the fire,
Boil the meat well [done]
And mix in the spices,
And let the bones be burned.
11
“Then set the empty pot (Jerusalem) back on the coals
So that it may be hot
And its bronze may glow
And its filthiness may be melted
And its rust (scum) may be consumed.
12
“She has wearied Me with toil,
Yet her great rust has not left her;
Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].
13
“In your filthiness are lewdness and outrage.
Therefore I would have cleansed you,
Yet you were not [willing to be] cleansed,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have satisfied My wrath against you.
14 I the Lord have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not have compassion and I will not be sorry; in accordance with your ways and in accordance with your deeds I will judge and punish you,” says the Lord God.’”
Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign
15 Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16 “Son of man, listen carefully, I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes [your wife] with a single stroke. Yet you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not flow. 17 Sigh and groan in silence; do not mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of [mourners furnished by other] men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and [a]in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded. 19 The people said to me, “These things that you are doing—tell us, what do they mean for us?” 20 Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will [b]profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword. 22 You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men. 23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will rot away in your sins and you will groan to one another.(A) 24 So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”
25 ‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and [c]their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters, 26 that on that day a survivor will come to you to let you hear [of the destruction of Jerusalem] with your [own] ears. 27 On that day [d]your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be mute. In this way you shall be a sign to them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
Judgment on Gentile Nations—Ammon
25 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the [e]Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 And say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord God, for thus says the Lord God, “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah [your chief city] a pasture for camels and [the cities of] the Ammonites a resting place for flocks [of sheep]. And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.” 6 For thus says the Lord God, “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the contempt, and malice, and spite of your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and will hand you over as prey and spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”(B)
Moab
8 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because [f]Moab and Seir (Edom) say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the [pagan] nations,’ 9 therefore, behold, I will deprive the flank of Moab of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it, along with the children of Ammon, to the people of the East as a possession, so that the children of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations [any longer]. 11 Thus I will execute judgment and punishment on Moab, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”(C)
Edom
12 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because [g]Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended and has incurred grievous guilt by taking revenge on them,” 13 therefore thus says the Lord God, “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and I will cut off and destroy man and beast. I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword. 14 I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath, and they will know and experience My vengeance,” says the Lord God.(D)
Philistia
15 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because the [h]Philistines have acted revengefully and have taken vengeance [contemptuously] with malice in their hearts to destroy with everlasting hostility and hatred,” 16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the [i]Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes and chastisements and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance on them.”’”(E)
Judgment on Tyre
26 Now in the eleventh year, on the first [day] of the month [after the capture of King Jehoiachin], the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, because [j]Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway of the people is broken; she is open to me. I will be filled, now that she is a desolate waste,’ 3 therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea makes its waves crest. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her dust and debris from her and make her as bare as [the top of] a rock. 5 Her island in the midst of the sea will become a dry place to spread nets, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God, ‘and she will become a prey and a spoil for the nations. 6 Also Tyre’s daughters (towns, villages) [k]on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
7 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north [l]Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots and with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will kill your daughters on the mainland with the sword, and he shall make siege walls against you and build a siege ramp against you and raise [a roof of] large shields [as a defense] against you. 9 He will direct the [shocking] blow of his battering rams against your walls, and he will tear down your towers with his crowbars. 10 Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar will trample all your streets; with the sword he will kill your people, and your strong pillars (obelisks) will fall to the ground. 12 Also they will take your riches as spoil and plunder your merchandise, and tear down your walls and your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timber and the debris [from your city] out in the water. 13 So I will silence your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard. 14 I will make you [Tyre] a [m]bare rock; you will be a dry place on which to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,” says the Lord God.
15 Thus says the Lord God to Tyre, “Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones and remove their robes and take off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble again and again, and be appalled at you. 17 They will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you and say to you,
‘How you have perished and vanished, O renowned city,
From the seas, O renowned city,
Which was mighty on the sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who imposed her terror
On all who lived there!
18
‘Now the coastlands will tremble
On the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea
Will be terrified at your departure.’”
19 For thus says the Lord God, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and great waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living. 21 I will bring terrors on you and you will be no more. Though you will be sought, yet you will never be found again,” says the Lord God.
As Newborn Babes
2 So put aside every trace of malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander and hateful speech; 2 like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment], 3 if in fact you have [already] tasted [a]the goodness and gracious kindness of the Lord.(A)
As Living Stones
4 Come to Him [the risen Lord] as to a living Stone which men rejected and threw away, but which is choice and precious in the sight of God.(B) 5 You [believers], like living stones, are [b]being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen stone, a precious (honored) Cornerstone,
And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will never be disappointed [in his expectations].”(C)
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe [in Him as God’s only Son—the Source of salvation]; but for those who disbelieve,
“The [very] stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief Cornerstone,”(D)
8 and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they disobey the word [of God], and to this they [who reject Him as Savior] were also appointed.(E)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.(F) 10 Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.(G)
11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that [c]for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God [d]in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].
Honor Authority
13 Submit yourselves to [the authority of] every human institution for the sake of the Lord [to honor His name], whether it is to a king as one in a position of power, 14 or to governors as sent by him to bring punishment to those who do wrong, and to praise and encourage those who do right. 15 For it is the will of God that by doing right you may silence (muzzle, gag) the [culpable] ignorance and irresponsible criticisms of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover or pretext for evil, but [use it and live] as bond-servants of God. 17 Show respect for all people [treat them honorably], love the brotherhood [of believers], fear God, honor the king.
18 [e]Servants, be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are good and kind, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an [f]awareness of [the will of] God. 20 After all, what kind of credit is there if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you endure it patiently? But if when you do what is right and patiently bear [undeserved] suffering, this finds favor with God.
Christ Is Our Example
21 For [as a believer] you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps. 22 He committed no sin, nor was deceit ever found in His mouth.(H) 23 While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly. 24 He personally carried our sins in His body on the [g]cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been [h]healed. 25 For you were continually wandering like [so many] sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.(I)
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