5“Son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave your head and beard. Use a scale to weigh the hair into three equal parts.H1121H120H3947H2299H2719H3947H1532H8593H5674H7218H2206H3947H3976H4948H25052Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After acting out the siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and chop it with a sword. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will scatter my people with the sword.H1197H217H7992H8432H5892H3117H4692H4390H3947H7992H5221H5439H2719H7992H2219H7307H7324H2719H3103Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe.H3947H4592H4557H6696H36714Then take some of these hairs out and throw them into the fire, burning them up. A fire will then spread from this remnant and destroy all of Israel.H3947H7993H8432H784H8313H784H784H3318H1004H34785“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is an illustration of what will happen to Jerusalem. I placed her at the center of the nations,H559H136H3069H3389H7760H8432H1471H776H54396but she has rebelled against my regulations and decrees and has been even more wicked than the surrounding nations. She has refused to obey the regulations and decrees I gave her to follow.H4784H4941H7564H1471H2708H776H5439H3988H4941H2708H19807“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you.H559H136H3069H1995H1471H5439H1980H2708H6213H4941H6213H4941H1471H54398Therefore, I myself, the Sovereign Lord, am now your enemy. I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch.H559H136H3069H6213H4941H8432H5869H14719Because of your detestable idols, I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or ever will again.H6213H6213H6213H3282H844110Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter to the winds the few who survive.H1H398H1121H8432H1121H398H1H6213H8201H7611H2219H730711“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will cut you off completely. I will show you no pity at all because you have defiled my Temple with your vile images and detestable sins.H2416H5002H136H3069H2930H4720H8251H8441H1639H5869H2347H255012A third of your people will die in the city from disease and famine. A third of them will be slaughtered by the enemy outside the city walls. And I will scatter a third to the winds, chasing them with my sword.H7992H4191H1698H7458H3615H8432H7992H5307H2719H5439H2219H7992H7307H7324H2719H31013Then at last my anger will be spent, and I will be satisfied. And when my fury against them has subsided, all Israel will know that I, the Lord, have spoken to them in my jealous anger.H639H3615H2534H5117H5162H3045H3068H1696H7068H3615H253414“So I will turn you into a ruin, a mockery in the eyes of the surrounding nations and to all who pass by.H5414H2723H2781H1471H5439H5869H567415You will become an object of mockery and taunting and horror. You will be a warning to all the nations around you. They will see what happens when the Lord punishes a nation in anger and rebukes it, says the Lord.H2781H1422H4148H4923H1471H5439H6213H8201H639H2534H2534H8433H3068H169616“I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food is gone.H7971H7451H2671H7458H4889H7971H7843H3254H7458H7665H4294H389917And along with the famine, wild animals will attack you and rob you of your children. Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the sword of the enemy against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H7971H7458H7451H2416H7921H1698H1818H5674H935H2719H3068H1696
Judgment against Israel’s Mountains
6Again a message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H5592“Son of man, turn and face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.H1121H120H7760H6440H2022H3478H50123Proclaim this message from the Sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines.H559H2022H3478H8085H1697H136H3069H559H136H3069H2022H1389H650H1516H935H2719H6H11164All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed. I will kill your people in front of your idols.H4196H8074H2553H7665H5307H2491H6440H15445I will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter your bones around your altars.H5414H6297H1121H3478H6440H1544H2219H6106H5439H41966Wherever you live there will be desolation, and I will destroy your pagan shrines. Your altars will be demolished, your idols will be smashed, your places of worship will be torn down, and all the religious objects you have made will be destroyed.H4186H5892H2717H1116H3456H4196H2717H816H1544H7665H7673H2553H1438H4639H42297The place will be littered with corpses, and you will know that I alone am the Lord.H2491H5307H8432H3045H30688“But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world.H3498H6412H2719H1471H2219H7769Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins.H6412H2142H1471H7617H7665H2181H3820H5493H5869H2181H310H1544H6962H6440H7451H6213H844110They will know that I alone am the Lord and that I was serious when I said I would bring this calamity on them.H3045H3068H1696H2600H6213H745111“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands in horror, and stamp your feet. Cry out because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have committed. Now they are going to die from war and famine and disease.H559H136H3069H5221H3709H7554H7272H559H253H7451H8441H1004H3478H5307H2719H7458H169812Disease will strike down those who are far away in exile. War will destroy those who are nearby. And anyone who survives will be killed by famine. So at last I will spend my fury on them.H7350H4191H1698H7138H5307H2719H7604H5341H4191H7458H3615H253413They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols.H3045H3068H2491H8432H1544H5439H4196H7311H1389H7218H2022H7488H6086H5687H424H4725H5414H5207H7381H154414I will crush them and make their cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”H5186H3027H5414H776H8077H4923H4057H1689H4186H3045H3068
The Coming of the End
7Then this message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H5592“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: “The end is here! Wherever you look—east, west, north, or south—your land is finished.H1121H120H559H136H3069H127H3478H7093H7093H935H702H3671H7763No hope remains, for I will unleash my anger against you. I will call you to account for all your detestable sins.H7093H7971H639H8199H1870H5414H84414I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. I will repay you for all your detestable sins. Then you will know that I am the Lord.H5869H2347H2550H5414H1870H8441H8432H3045H30685“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Disaster after disaster is coming your way!H559H136H3069H7451H259H7451H9356The end has come. It has finally arrived. Your final doom is waiting!H7093H935H7093H935H6974H9357O people of Israel, the day of your destruction is dawning. The time has come; the day of trouble is near. Shouts of anguish will be heard on the mountains, not shouts of joy.H6843H935H3427H776H6256H935H935H3117H4103H7138H1906H20228Soon I will pour out my fury on you and unleash my anger against you. I will call you to account for all your detestable sins.H7138H8210H2534H3615H639H8199H1870H5414H84419I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. I will repay you for all your detestable sins. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking the blow.H5869H2347H2550H5414H1870H8441H8432H3045H3068H522110“The day of judgment is here; your destruction awaits! The people’s wickedness and pride have blossomed to full flower.H3117H935H6843H3318H4294H6692H2087H652411Their violence has grown into a rod that will beat them for their wickedness. None of these proud and wicked people will survive. All their wealth and prestige will be swept away.H2555H6965H4294H7562H1995H1991H508912Yes, the time has come; the day is here! Buyers should not rejoice over bargains, nor sellers grieve over losses, for all of them will fall under my terrible anger.H6256H935H3117H5060H7069H8055H4376H56H2740H199513Even if the merchants survive, they will never return to their business. For what God has said applies to everyone—it will not be changed! Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will ever recover.H4376H7725H4465H2416H2377H1995H7725H376H2388H5771H2416
The Desolation of Israel
14“The trumpet calls Israel’s army to mobilize, but no one listens, for my fury is against them all.H8628H8619H3559H1980H4421H2740H199515There is war outside the city and disease and famine within. Those outside the city walls will be killed by enemy swords. Those inside the city will die of famine and disease.H2719H2351H1698H7458H1004H7704H4191H2719H5892H7458H1698H39816The survivors who escape to the mountains will moan like doves, weeping for their sins.H6403H6412H2022H3123H1516H1993H376H577117Their hands will hang limp, their knees will be weak as water.H3027H7503H1290H3212H432518They will dress themselves in burlap; horror and shame will cover them. They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse.H2296H8242H6427H3680H955H6440H7144H721819“They will throw their money in the streets, tossing it out like worthless trash. Their silver and gold won’t save them on that day of the Lord’s anger. It will neither satisfy nor feed them, for their greed can only trip them up.H7993H3701H2351H2091H5079H3701H2091H3201H5337H3117H5678H3068H7646H5315H4390H4578H4383H577120They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make detestable idols and vile images. Therefore, I will make all their wealth disgusting to them.H6643H5716H7760H1347H6213H6754H8441H8251H5414H507921I will give it as plunder to foreigners, to the most wicked of nations, and they will defile it.H5414H3027H2114H957H7563H776H7998H249022I will turn my eyes from them as these robbers invade and defile my treasured land.H6440H5437H2490H6845H6530H935H249023“Prepare chains for my people, for the land is bloodied by terrible crimes. Jerusalem is filled with violence.H6213H7569H776H4390H1818H4941H5892H4390H255524I will bring the most ruthless of nations to occupy their homes. I will break down their proud fortresses and defile their sanctuaries.H935H7451H1471H3423H1004H1347H5794H7673H6942H2490H515725Terror and trembling will overcome my people. They will look for peace but not find it.H7089H935H1245H796526Calamity will follow calamity; rumor will follow rumor. They will look in vain for a vision from the prophets. They will receive no teaching from the priests and no counsel from the leaders.H1943H935H1943H8052H8052H1245H2377H5030H8451H6H3548H6098H220527The king and the prince will stand helpless, weeping in despair, and the people’s hands will tremble with fear. I will bring on them the evil they have done to others, and they will receive the punishment they so richly deserve. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”H4428H56H5387H3847H8077H3027H5971H776H926H6213H1870H4941H8199H3045H3068
Idolatry in the Temple
8Then on September 17, during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Lord took hold of me.H8345H8141H8345H2568H2320H3427H1004H2205H3063H3427H6440H3027H136H3069H53072I saw a figure that appeared to be a man. From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like a burning flame. From the waist up he looked like gleaming amber.H7200H1823H4758H784H4758H4975H4295H784H4975H4605H4758H2096H5869H28303He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous.H7971H8403H3027H3947H6734H7218H7307H5375H776H8064H935H4759H430H3389H6607H6442H8179H6437H6828H4186H5566H7068H70694Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.H3519H430H3478H4758H7200H12375Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, stood the idol that had made the Lord so jealous.H559H1121H120H5375H5869H1870H6828H5375H5869H1870H6828H6828H8179H4196H5566H7068H8726“Son of man,” he said, “do you see what they are doing? Do you see the detestable sins the people of Israel are committing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even more detestable sins than these!”H559H1121H120H7200H6213H1419H8441H1004H3478H6213H7368H4720H7725H7200H1419H84417Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall.H935H6607H2691H7200H259H2356H70238He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway.H559H1121H120H2864H7023H2864H7023H259H66079“Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!”H559H935H7200H7451H8441H621310So I went in and saw the walls engraved with all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel.H935H7200H8403H7431H8263H929H1544H1004H3478H2707H7023H543911Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.H5975H6440H7657H376H2205H1004H3478H8432H5975H2970H1121H8227H376H4730H3027H6282H6051H7004H592712Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’”H559H1121H120H7200H2205H1004H3478H6213H2822H376H2315H4906H559H3068H7200H3068H5800H77613Then the Lord added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”H559H7725H7200H1419H8441H621314He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz.H935H6607H8179H3068H1004H6828H3427H802H1058H854215“Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”H559H7200H1121H120H7725H7200H1419H844116Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!H935H6442H2691H3068H1004H6607H1964H3068H197H4196H2568H6242H376H268H1964H3068H6440H6924H7812H8121H692417“Have you seen this, son of man?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger?H559H7200H1121H120H7043H1004H3063H6213H8441H6213H4390H776H2555H7725H3707H7971H2156H63918Therefore, I will respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I will not listen.”H6213H2534H5869H2347H2550H7121H241H1419H6963H8085
32[A psalm of David.] Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!H1732H4905H835H6588H5375H2401H36802Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!H835H120H3068H2803H5771H7307H74233When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.H2790H6106H1086H7581H31174Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. InterludeH3119H3915H3027H3513H3955H2015H2725H7019H55425Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the LORD." And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. InterludeH3045H2403H5771H3680H559H3034H6588H3068H5375H5771H2403H55426Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.H2623H6419H6256H4672H7858H7227H4325H50607For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. InterludeH5643H5341H6862H5437H7438H6405H55428The LORD says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.H7919H3384H1870H2098H3212H3289H58699Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."H5483H6505H995H5716H1102H4964H7448H1077H712610Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.H7227H4341H7563H982H3068H2617H543711So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!H8055H3068H1523H6662H7442H3477H3820
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