Nov 23rd

“Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

Speak a parable to the rebellious house, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

‘Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh,

Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh,

I, Yahweh, have spoken; it is coming, and I will act. I will not regret, and I will not pity, and I will not relent; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares Lord Yahweh.’ ”

And the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

“Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come.

Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your headdress and put your shoes on your feet and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.”

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.

The people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?”

Then I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me saying,

‘Say to the house of Israel, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am about to 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 will fall by the sword.

And you will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men.

And your headdresses will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn, and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities, and you will groan to one another.

Thus Ezekiel will be a wondrous sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’ ”

‘Now as for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their strong defense, the joy of their beauty, the desire of their eyes, and what lifts up their soul, their sons and their daughters,

that on that day he who escapes will come to you with a report for your ears?

On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a wondrous sign to them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

And the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

“Son of man, set your face toward the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them

and say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of Lord Yahweh! Thus says Lord Yahweh, “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,

therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for 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.

I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.”

For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and were glad with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel,

therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you, and I will give you for plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.”

‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’

therefore, behold, I am going to open the flank of Moab by its cities, by its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim,

and I will give it for a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the sons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations.

Thus I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance and has incurred grievous guilt and avenged themselves upon them,”

therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.

I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom according to My anger and according to My wrath; thus they will know My vengeance,” declares Lord Yahweh.

‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to bring ruin with everlasting enmity,”

therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines and cut off the Cherethites and cause the remnant of the seacoast to perish.

So I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful reproofs; and they will know that I am Yahweh when I lay My vengeance on them.” ’ ”

Now it happened in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

“Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’

therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.

They will make the walls of Tyre a ruin and pull down her towers; and I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock.

She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘and she will become plunder for the nations.

Also her daughters who are on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, chariots, horsemen, and an assembly, a great number of people.

He will kill your daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make siege walls against you, cast up a ramp against you, and raise up a large shield against you.

The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his swords he will tear down your towers.

Because of the abundance of his horses, the fine dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of horsemen and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will come down to the ground.

Also they will make a spoil of your wealth and a plunder of your merchandise, and pull down your walls and tear down your desirable houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your debris into the water.

So I will cause the tumult of your songs to cease, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more, for I Yahweh have spoken,” declares Lord Yahweh.

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

For they could not bear what was being commanded, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.”

And so terrible was what appeared, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

Now this expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

for our God is a consuming fire.

Let love of the brothers continue.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge.

Make sure that your way of life is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

so that we confidently say,

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no authority to eat.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come.

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.