Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
HE
33 Lord, help me to understand your teaching,
then I will always obey it.
34 Explain your Law to me, then I will obey it.
I will always love to do what it says.
35 Help me to live in a way that respects your commands.
That is what makes me very happy.
36 Help me to love your rules.
That is better for me than riches.
37 Turn my eyes away from useless things.
Use your word to help me to live.
38 I am your servant.
Please do what you have promised to do.
You have promised to bless anyone who respects you.
39 I am afraid when people insult me.
Your rules are good,
so do not let me be ashamed.
40 I really want to obey your rules.
Because you are righteous,
please let me continue to live.
Ezekiel's wife dies
15 The Lord gave me this message: 16 ‘Son of man, I will suddenly take away from you the one person who makes you happy. But you must not weep. Do not let people see that you are sad. 17 Cry inside yourself but do not cry aloud. Do not show that you are sad because someone has died. Do not remove the cloth from your head. Keep your shoes on your feet. Do not cover the lower part of your face. Do not eat the food that people eat at funerals.’[a]
18 That morning I spoke to the people. In the evening of that day, my wife died. The next morning I did what the Lord had told me to do.
19 Then the people said to me, ‘Please tell us why you are doing these things. What are you trying to show us?’ 20 So I said to them, ‘The Lord gave this message to me:
21 Say to Israel's people, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen! I will now make my holy place become unclean. It is the place that makes you very proud. You love it because it is so beautiful. But now enemy soldiers will kill your sons and daughters that you left in Jerusalem. 22 Then you will do the same things that I have done. You will not cover the lower part of your face. You will not eat special food that people eat at funerals. 23 You will still wear your cloths on your heads. You will wear your shoes on your feet. You will not cry aloud or weep. You will suffer and you will be weak because of the punishment for your sins. You will cry quietly among yourselves. 24 Ezekiel is an example to you. You must do the same as he has done when his wife died. When this happens, you will know that I am the Almighty Lord.”[b]
25 Son of man, I will soon take away from them Jerusalem's great temple. It is the beautiful place that has made them very happy. They are very proud of it. They love to look at it. I will also take away their sons and daughters. 26 On the day when that happens, a man will run away from the battle in Jerusalem. He will come here to tell you the news. 27 At that time, you will be able to speak again.[c] You will talk with that man. You will no longer have to be quiet. You will be an example to the people, and they will know that I am the Lord. ’
15 And nobody can go to tell God's message to people unless God sends them. This is written in the Bible: ‘When people arrive to tell us good news, we say “welcome!” ’[a]
16 But not every person who hears the good news obeys its message. Isaiah said this: ‘Lord God, it seems that nobody has believed our message.’[b] 17 So then, people must hear the message before they can trust God. And people hear that message when someone tells them about Christ.
18 Let me ask you this: ‘Did Israel's people hear that message?’ They certainly did! The Bible says:
‘People have spoken God's message everywhere.
People have heard his message in every part of the world.’[c]
19 So I ask this too: ‘When Israel's people heard God's message, did they understand it?’ First, think about what Moses wrote. God said to Israel's people:
‘I will make you jealous because of people who are not my people.
I will make you angry because of people who know nothing about me.’[d]
20 Also, this is what Isaiah said very bravely:
‘God says: Those people who were not looking for me have found me.
I showed myself to people who were not even asking about me.’[e]
21 But Isaiah says this about Israel's people:
‘God says: For a very long time,
I have been asking my people to return to me.
But they refused to obey me.
They turned against me.’[f]
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.