Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
33 Lord, teach me ·your demands [L the way of your demands/statutes/ordinances/requirements],
and I will ·keep [observe] them until the end.
34 Help me understand, so I can ·keep [protect] your ·teachings [instructions; laws],
·obeying [guarding] them with all my heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commands,
because ·that makes me happy [L I take pleasure in them].
36 Make me want to keep your ·rules [decrees; testimonies]
·instead of wishing for riches [L not to gain/profit].
37 ·Keep me [L Turn my eyes] from looking at ·worthless [false; vain] things.
Let me live ·by your word [L in your path].
38 ·Keep your promise [Confirm your word] to me, your servant,
so you will be ·respected [feared; Prov. 1:7].
39 Take away ·the shame [my scorn/humiliation] I fear,
because your ·laws [judgments] are good.
40 How I ·want to follow [long for] your ·orders [precepts].
Give me life because of your ·goodness [righteousness].
Ezekiel Is Watchman for Israel
33 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], speak to your people and say to them: ‘Suppose I bring a war against a land. The people of the land may choose one of their men and make him their watchman. 3 When he sees the ·enemy [L sword] coming ·to attack [against] the land, he will blow the trumpet and warn the people. 4 If they hear the sound of the trumpet but do ·nothing [not heed], the ·enemy [L sword] will come and ·kill them [L take them away]. ·They will be responsible for their own deaths [L Their blood will be on their own head]. 5 They heard the sound of the trumpet but didn’t ·do anything [heed the warning]. So ·they are to blame for their own deaths [L their blood will be on their own head]. If they had ·done something [taken the warning], they would have saved their own lives. 6 But if the watchman sees the ·enemy [L sword] coming to attack and does not blow the trumpet, the people will not be warned. Then if the ·enemy [L sword] comes and ·kills [L takes away] any of them, they have died because of their own sin. But I will ·punish [hold accountable] the watchman for their ·deaths [L blood].’
29 “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and you ·show honor to [decorate; adorn] the graves of ·those who lived good lives [L the righteous]. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have ·helped them kill [L been partners in the blood of] the prophets.’ 31 But you ·give proof [L testify against yourselves] that you are ·descendants [sons; children] of those who murdered the prophets. 32 ·And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started [or Go ahead and finish what your fathers started!; L Fill up the measure of your fathers].
33 “You ·are snakes [serpents]! A ·family of poisonous snakes [T brood/offspring of vipers]! How are you going to escape ·God’s judgment [the sentence/judgment/damnation of hell/Gehenna; 5:22]? 34 ·So I tell you this [For this reason]: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and ·teachers [scribes; experts in the law]. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will ·beat [scourge; flog] in your synagogues and ·chase [hunt; persecute] from town to town. 35 So ·you will be guilty for [L upon you will come] ·the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth [L all the righteous blood shed on the earth]—from the ·murder [L blood] of that ·good [righteous] man Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the ·Temple [sanctuary] and the altar [C in the book order of the Hebrew Old Testament, Abel (Gen. 4:8) and Zechariah (2 Chr. 24:21) were the first and last men to be murdered]. 36 I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to ·you people who are living now [L this generation].
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.