Old/New Testament
8 ¶ And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2 And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins downward was fire; and from his loins upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3 And that likeness put forth his hand and took me by the locks of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the heaven and the earth and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north where the habitation of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there like the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then he said unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here to cause me to go far away from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 ¶ And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall; and when I had dug in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in and see the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of serpent and beasts; the abomination and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, each man with his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the earth.
13 ¶ He also said unto me: Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the door of the LORD’s house which is toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For after they have filled the land with evil and have returned to provoke me to anger; behold, they put the stench to my nose.
18 Therefore I will also deal in fury: my eye shall not forgive, neither will I have mercy: and they shall cry in my ears with a loud voice; yet I will not hear them.
9 ¶ And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, The visitors of the city have come, even each one with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lies toward the north, and each man had a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen with a writer’s inkhorn by his side; and they went in and stood beside the brazen altar.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel went up from over the cherubim, upon which he had been, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
4 and the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry out because of all the abominations that are done in the midst of her.
5 ¶ And to the others he said in my hearing, Go after him through the city and smite; do not let your eye forgive, neither have mercy.
6 Slay the old, the young men, and the virgins, the children and the women, but do not come near anyone upon whom is the mark; and ye must begin from my sanctuary. Then they began with the men, the elders, which were in front of the temple.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house and fill the courts with the slain; go forth. And they went forth and slew in the city.
8 And it came to pass, after they had slain them, I was left, and I fell upon my face and cried out and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the remnant of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness, for they have said, The LORD has forsaken the earth, and the LORD does not see.
10 And as for me also, my eye shall not forgive, neither will I have mercy, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done according to all thou hast commanded me.
10 ¶ Then I looked, and, behold, above the heaven that was above the head of the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2 And he spoke to the man clothed with linen and said, Go in between the wheels under the cherubim and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in, in my sight.
3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house when this man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 And the glory of the LORD had gone up from the cherubim to the threshold of the door, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory.
5 And the thunder of the cherubim’s wings was heard even to the outer court as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaks.
6 And it came to pass that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim; then he went in and stood among the wheels.
7 And one cherubim stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim and took thereof and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen, who took it and went out.
8 ¶ And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9 And when I looked, behold, four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by each cherubim; and the colour of the wheels was as a stone of Tarsis or beryl.
10 And as for their appearance, the four were the same, as if one were in the midst of another.
11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they did not turn as they went, but to the place where the first one went, they followed it; they did not turn as they went.
12 And all their flesh and their ribs and their hands and their wings and the wheels: they were full of eyes round about in their four wheels.
13 To the wheels, it was shouted unto them in my hearing, Roll!
14 And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherubim; the second face was the face of a man; the third the face of a lion; the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim rose up. These are the living creatures that I saw by the river of Chebar.
16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went with them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them.
17 When they stood still, these stood still; and when they lifted up themselves, these lifted up themselves also; for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 And the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim.
19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight; when they went out, the wheels also were in front of them, and they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
20 These were the living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
21 Each one had four faces, and each one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearance and their being; each one went straight in the direction they were facing.
13 ¶ Let brotherly love continue.
2 Do not forget to show hospitality; for thereby some, having entertained angels, were kept.
3 Remember those that are in bonds as bound with them and those who suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Let marriage be honourable in all and the bed undefiled; but the fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember your pastors, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation:
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and for the ages.
9 Be not taken out of the way with diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with foods which have not profited those that have been occupied with them.
10 We have an altar, of which those who serve the tabernacle have no faculty to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.
12 Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13 Let us go forth, therefore, unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one that is coming.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips confessing his name.
16 Do not forget to do good and to fellowship; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Listen to your pastors, and do not resist them, for they watch for your souls as those that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.
18 ¶ Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience in all things desiring to conduct ourselves well.
19 And I beseech you all the more to do this, that I may be restored unto you sooner.
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal testament,
21 make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for the ages of the ages. Amen.
22 And I beseech you, brethren, that ye receive this word of exhortation, that I have written unto you briefly.
23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.
24 Salute all thy pastors and all the saints. The brethren of Italy salute you.
25 Grace be with you all. Amen.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International