To The Word – Day 194

₁The LORD spoke to me. ₂“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Jerusalem. Denounce the places where people worship. Warn the land of Israel ₃that I, the LORD, am saying: I am your enemy. I will draw my sword and kill all of you, good and evil alike. ₄I will use my sword against everyone from south to north. ₅Everyone will know that I, the LORD, have drawn my sword and that I will not put it away.

₆“Mortal man, groan as if your heart is breaking with despair. Groan in sorrow where everyone can watch you. ₇When they ask you why you are groaning, tell them it is because of the news that is coming. When it comes, their hearts will be filled with fear, their hands will hang limp, their courage will fail, and their knees will tremble. The time has come; it is here.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

₈The LORD said to me, ₉“Mortal man, prophesy. Tell the people what I, the Lord, am saying:

₁₄“Now, mortal man, prophesy. Clap your hands, and the sword will strike again and again. It is a sword that kills, a sword that terrifies and slaughters. ₁₅It makes my people lose courage and stumble. I am threatening their city with a sword that flashes like lightning and is ready to kill. ₁₆Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn. ₁₇I also will clap my hands, and my anger will be over. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

₁₈The LORD spoke to me. ₁₉“Mortal man,” he said, “mark out two roads by which the king of Babylonia can come with his sword. Both of them are to start in the same country. Put up a signpost where the roads fork. ₂₀One arm will show the king the way to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and the other the way to Judah, to the fortified city, Jerusalem. ₂₁The king of Babylonia stands by the signpost at the fork of the road. To discover which way to go, he shakes the arrows; he consults his idols; he examines the liver of a sacrificed animal. ₂₂Now! His right hand holds the arrow marked ‘Jerusalem’! It tells him to go and set up battering rams, to shout the battle cry, to place battering rams against the gates, to throw up earthworks, and to dig trenches. ₂₃The people of Jerusalem won't believe this, because of the treaties they have made. But this prediction is to remind them of their sins and to warn them that they will be captured. ₂₄This then is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: your sins are exposed. Everyone knows how guilty you are. You show your sins in your every action. You stand condemned, and I will hand you over to your enemies.

₂₅“You wicked, unholy ruler of Israel, your day, the day of your final punishment, is coming. ₂₆I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken. Take off your crown and your turban. Nothing will be the same again. Raise the poor to power! Bring down those who are ruling! ₂₇Ruin, ruin! Yes, I will make the city a ruin. But this will not happen until the one whom I have chosen to punish the city has come. Then I will give it to him.

₂₈“Mortal man, prophesy. Announce what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to the Ammonites, who are insulting Israel. Say to them:

₃₀“ ‘Put up the sword! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land where you were born. ₃₁You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction. ₃₂You will be destroyed by fire. Your blood will be shed in your own country, and no one will remember you any more.’ ” The LORD has spoken.

₁The LORD spoke to me. ₂“Mortal man,” he said, “are you ready to judge the city that is full of murderers? Make clear to her all the disgusting things she has done. ₃Tell the city what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: because you have murdered so many of your own people and have defiled yourself by worshipping idols, your time is coming. ₄You are guilty of those murders and are defiled by the idols you made, and so your day is coming, your time is up! That is why I have let the nations mock you and all the countries sneer at you. ₅Countries near by and countries far away sneer at you because of your lawlessness. ₆All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder. ₇You people in the city do not honour your parents. You cheat foreigners and take advantage of widows and orphans. ₈You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath. ₉Some of your people tell lies about others in order to have them put to death. Some of them eat sacrifices offered to idols. Some are always satisfying their lusts. ₁₀Some of them sleep with their father's wife. Some force women to have intercourse with them during their period. ₁₁Some commit adultery, and others seduce their daughters-in-law or their half-sisters. ₁₂Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to their fellow-Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

₁₃“I will bring my fist down on your robberies and murders. ₁₄Do you think you will have any courage left or have strength enough to lift your hand when I am finished with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I keep my word. ₁₅I will scatter your people to every country and nation and will put an end to your evil actions. ₁₆And so the other nations will dishonour you, but you will know that I am the LORD.”

₁₇The LORD said to me, ₁₈“Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like the waste metal — copper, tin, iron, and lead — left over after silver has been refined in a furnace. ₁₉So now I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem ₂₀in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them just as fire melts ore. ₂₁Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger. ₂₂They will be melted in Jerusalem just as silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the LORD.”

₂₃The LORD spoke to me again. ₂₄“Mortal man,” he said, “tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger. ₂₅The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows. ₂₆The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me. ₂₇The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich. ₂₈The prophets have hidden these sins like those covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign LORD, but I, the LORD, have not spoken to them. ₂₉The wealthy cheat and rob. They ill-treat the poor and take advantage of foreigners. ₃₀I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. ₃₁So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

₁The LORD spoke to me. ₂“Mortal man,” he said, “there were once two sisters. ₃When they were young, living in Egypt, they lost their virginity and became prostitutes. ₄The older one was named Oholah (she represents Samaria), and the younger one was named Oholibah (she represents Jerusalem). I married both of them, and they bore me children. ₅Although she was mine, Oholah continued to be a prostitute and was full of lust for her lovers from Assyria. ₆They were soldiers in uniforms of purple, noblemen and high-ranking officers; all of them were handsome young cavalry officers. ₇She was the whore for all the Assyrian officers, and her lust led her to defile herself by worshipping Assyrian idols. ₈She continued what she had begun as a prostitute in Egypt, where she lost her virginity. From the time she was a young woman, men slept with her and treated her like a prostitute. ₉So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers whom she wanted so much. ₁₀They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters, and then killed her with a sword. Women everywhere gossiped about her fate.

₁₁“Even though her sister Oholibah saw this, she was wilder and more of a prostitute than Oholah had ever been. ₁₂She too was full of lust for the Assyrian noblemen and officers — soldiers in bright uniforms — and for the cavalry officers, all those handsome young men. ₁₃I saw that she was completely immoral, that the second sister was as bad as the first.

_14-15“She sank deeper and deeper in her immorality. She was attracted by the images of high Babylonian officials carved into the wall and painted bright red, with sashes round their waists and fancy turbans on their heads. ₁₆As soon as she saw them, she was filled with lust and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. ₁₇The Babylonians came to have sex with her. They used her and defiled her so much that finally she became disgusted with them. ₁₈She exposed herself publicly and let everyone know she was a whore. I was as disgusted with her as I had been with her sister. ₁₉She became more of a prostitute than ever, acting just as she did as a young woman, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. ₂₀She was filled with lust for oversexed men who had all the lustfulness of donkeys or stallions.” ₂₁(Oholibah, you wanted to repeat the immorality you were guilty of as a young woman in Egypt, where men played with your breasts and you lost your virginity.)

₂₂“Now then, Oholibah, this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to you. You are tired of those lovers, but I will make them angry with you and bring them to surround you. ₂₃I will bring all the Babylonians and Chaldeans, men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians. I will gather all those handsome young noblemen and officers, all those important officials and high-ranking cavalry officers. ₂₄They will attack you from the north, bringing a large army with chariots and supply wagons. Protected by shields and helmets, they will surround you. I will hand you over to them, and they will judge you by their own laws. ₂₅Because I am angry with you, I will let them deal with you in their anger. They will cut off your nose and your ears and kill your children. Yes, they will take your sons and daughters from you and burn them alive. ₂₆They will tear off your clothes and take your jewels. ₂₇I will put a stop to your lust and to the obscenities you have committed ever since you were in Egypt. You won't look at any more idols or think about Egypt any more.”

₂₈This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “I will hand you over to people you hate and are disgusted with. ₂₉And because they hate you, they will take away everything you have worked for and leave you stripped naked, exposed like a prostitute. Your lust and your prostitution ₃₀have brought this on you. You were a prostitute for the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ₃₁You followed in your sister's footsteps, and so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink.”

₃₂The Sovereign LORD says,

₃₅Now this is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: “Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution.”

₃₆The LORD said to me, “Mortal man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Accuse them of the disgusting things they have done. ₃₇They have committed adultery and murder — adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols. ₃₈And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established. ₃₉The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it!

₄₀“Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewellery. ₄₁They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them. ₄₂The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. ₄₃And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery. ₄₄They went back to these prostitutes again and again. They went back to Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women. ₄₅Righteous men will condemn them on the charge of adultery and murder, because they practise adultery and their hands are stained with blood.”

₄₆This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Bring a mob to terrorize them and rob them. ₄₇Let the mob stone them and attack them with swords, kill their children, and burn down their houses. ₄₈Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did. ₄₉And you two sisters — I will punish you for your immorality and your sin of worshipping idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”

₁On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of our exile, the LORD spoke to me. ₂“Mortal man,” he said, “write down today's date, because this is the day that the king of Babylonia is beginning the siege of Jerusalem. ₃Tell my rebellious people this parable that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them:

₆This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: “The city of murderers is doomed! It is like a corroded pot that is never cleaned. Piece after piece of meat is taken out, and not one is left. ₇There was murder in the city, but the blood was not spilt on the ground where the dust could hide it; it was spilt on a bare rock. ₈I have left the blood there, where it cannot be hidden, where it demands angry revenge.”

₉This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: “The city of murderers is doomed! I myself will pile up the firewood. ₁₀Bring more wood! Fan the flames! Cook the meat! Boil away the broth! Burn up the bones! ₁₁Now set the empty bronze pot on the coals and let it get red-hot. Then the pot will be ritually pure again after the corrosion is burnt off, ₁₂although all that corrosion will not disappear in the flames. ₁₃Jerusalem, your immoral actions have defiled you. Although I tried to purify you, you remained defiled. You will not be pure again until you have felt the full force of my anger. ₁₄I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

₁₅The LORD spoke to me. ₁₆“Mortal man,” he said, “with one blow I am going to take away the person you love most. You are not to complain or cry or shed any tears. ₁₇Don't let your sobbing be heard. Do not go bareheaded or barefoot as a sign of mourning. Don't cover your face or eat the food that mourners eat.”

₁₈Early in the day I was talking with the people. That evening my wife died, and the next day I did as I had been told. ₁₉The people asked me, “Why are you acting like this?”

₂₀So I said to them, “The LORD spoke to me and told me ₂₁to give you Israelites this message: you are proud of the strength of the Temple. You like to look at it and to visit it, but the LORD is going to profane it. And the younger members of your families who are left in Jerusalem will be killed in war. ₂₂Then you will do what I have done. You will not cover your faces or eat the food that mourners eat. ₂₃You will not go bareheaded or barefoot or mourn or cry. You will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan to one another. ₂₄Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The LORD says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign LORD.”

₂₅The LORD said, “Now, mortal man, I will take away from them the strong Temple that was their pride and joy, which they liked to look at and to visit. And I will take away their sons and daughters. ₂₆On the day that I do this, someone who escapes the destruction will come and tell you about it. ₂₇That same day you will get back the power of speech which you had lost, and you will talk with him. In this way you will be a sign to the people, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

₁The LORD spoke to me. ₂“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce the country of Ammon. ₃Tell them to listen to what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: you were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile. ₄Because you were glad, I will let the tribes from the eastern desert conquer you. They will set up their camps in your country and settle there. They will eat the fruit and drink the milk that should have been yours. ₅I will turn the city of Rabbah into a place to keep camels, and the whole country of Ammon into a place to keep sheep, so that you will know that I am the LORD.

₆“This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: you clapped your hands and jumped for joy. You despised the land of Israel. ₇Because you did, I will hand you over to other nations who will rob you and plunder you. I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more or have a country of your own. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

₈The Sovereign LORD said, “Because Moab has said that Judah is like all the other nations, ₉I will let the cities that defend the border of Moab be attacked, including even the finest cities — Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. ₁₀I will let the tribes of the eastern desert conquer Moab, together with Ammon, so that Moab will no longer be a nation. ₁₁I will punish Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

₁₂The Sovereign LORD said, “The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. ₁₃Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a waste, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. ₁₄My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

₁₅The Sovereign LORD said, “The Philistines have taken cruel revenge on their age-long enemies and destroyed them in their hate. ₁₆And so I am announcing that I will attack the Philistines and wipe them out. I will destroy everyone left living there on the Philistine Plain. ₁₇I will punish them severely and take full revenge on them. They will feel my anger. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

₁These are the solemn words of Agur son of Jakeh:

₅“God keeps every promise he makes. He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. ₆If you claim that he said something that he never said, he will reprimand you and show that you are a liar.”

₇I ask you, God, to let me have two things before I die: ₈keep me from lying, and let me be neither rich nor poor. So give me only as much food as I need. ₉If I have more, I might say that I do not need you. But if I am poor, I might steal and bring disgrace on my God.

₁₀Never criticize servants to their master. You will be cursed and suffer for it.

₁₁There are people who curse their fathers and do not show their appreciation for their mothers.

₁₂There are people who think they are pure when they are as filthy as they can be.

₁₃There are people who think they are so good — oh, how good they think they are!

₁₄There are people who take cruel advantage of the poor and needy; that is the way they make their living.

₁₅A leech has two daughters, and both are named “Give me!”

There are four things that are never satisfied:

₁₇Those who make fun of their father or despise their mother in her old age ought to be eaten by vultures or have their eyes picked out by wild ravens.

₁₈There are four things that are too mysterious for me to understand:

₂₀This is how an unfaithful wife acts: she commits adultery, has a bath, and says, “But I haven't done anything wrong!”

₂₁There are four things that the earth itself cannot tolerate:

₂₄There are four animals in the world that are small, but very, very clever:

₂₉There are four things that are impressive to watch as they walk: