EZEKIEL 16:42- 17:24
HEBREWS 8:1- 13
PSALM 106:13- 31
PROVERBS 27:7- 9
"Then at last my [the LORD's] fury against you [Jerusalem] will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. 43 But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign LORD. For to all your disgusting sins, you have added these lewd acts. 44 Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, `Like mother, like daughter. '45 For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother must have been a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46" Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. 47 But you have not merely sinned as they did-- no, that was nothing to you. In a very short time you far surpassed them! 48 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. 49 Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and gluttony, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50 She was proud and did loathsome things, so I wiped her out, as you have seen. 51 "Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more loathsome things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you! 52 You should be deeply ashamed because your sins are so terrible. In comparison, you make your sisters seem innocent! 53" But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. 54 Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. 55 Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. 56 In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. 57 But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned-- by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia. 58 This is your punishment for all your disgusting sins, says the LORD. 59 "Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says:I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60 Yet I will keep the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. 62 And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. 63 You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silence and shame when I forgive you of all that you have done, says the Sovereign LORD." 17:1 THEN this message came to me from the LORD:2 "Son of man, tell this story to the people of Israel. 3 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD:A great eagle with broad wings full of many- colored feathers came to Lebanon. He took hold of the highest branch of a cedar tree 4 and plucked off its topmost shoot. Then he carried it away to a city filled with merchants, where he planted it. 5" Then he planted one of its seedlings in fertile ground beside a broad river, where it would grow as quickly as a willow tree. 6 It took root there and grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned up toward the eagle, and its roots grew down beneath it. It soon produced strong branches and luxuriant leaves. 7 But then another great eagle with broad wings and full plumage came along. So the vine sent its roots and branches out toward him for water. 8 The vine did this even though it was already planted in good soil and had plenty of water so it could grow into a splendid vine and produce rich leaves and luscious fruit. 9 "So now the Sovereign LORD asks:Should I let this vine grow and prosper? No! I will pull it out, roots and all! I will cut off its fruit and let its leaves wither and die. I will pull it out easily enough-- it won't take a strong arm or a large army to do it. 10 Then when the vine is transplanted, will it thrive? No, it will wither away completely when the east wind blows against it. It will die in the same good soil where it had grown so well." 11 Then this message came to me from the LORD:12 "Say to these rebels of Israel:Don't you understand the meaning of this riddle of the eagles? I will tell you, says the Sovereign LORD. The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes, and brought them to Babylon. 13 He made a treaty with a member of the royal family and made him take an oath of loyalty. He also exiled Israel's most influential leaders, 14 so Israel would not become strong again and revolt. Only by keeping her treaty with Babylon could Israel maintain her national identity. 15" Nevertheless, this man of Israel's royal family rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to request a great army and many horses. Can Israel break her sworn treaties like that and get away with it? 16 No! For as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, the king of Israel will die in Babylon, the land of the king who put him in power and whose treaty he despised and broke. 17 Pharaoh and all his mighty army will fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and destroys the lives of many. 18 For the king of Israel broke his treaty after swearing to obey; therefore, he will not escape. 19 "So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:As surely as I live, I will punish him for breaking my covenant and despising the solemn oath he made in my name. 20 I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and deal with him there for this treason against me. 21 And all the best warriors of Israel will be killed in battle, and those remaining in the city will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken these words. 22" And the Sovereign LORD says:I will take a tender shoot from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel's highest mountain. 23 It will become a noble cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter beneath its branches. 24 And all the trees will know that it is I, the LORD, who cuts down the tall tree and helps the short tree to grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives new life to the dead tree. I, the LORD, have spoken! I will do what I have said. "
Here is the main point:Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand. 2 There he ministers in the sacred tent, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. 3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law of Moses. 5 They serve in a place of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning:" Be sure that you make everything according to the design I have shown you here on the mountain. "6 But our High Priest has been given a ministry that is far superior to the ministry of those who serve under the old laws, for he is the one who guarantees for us a better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But God himself found fault with the old one when he said:" The day will come, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
9 This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
so they will understand them,
and I will write them on their hearts
so they will obey them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their family,
saying, `You should know the Lord.'
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will already know me.
12 And I will forgive their wrongdoings,
and I will never again remember their sins. "
13 When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside.
Yet how quickly they [the Israelites] forgot what he [the LORD] had done!
They wouldn't wait for his counsel!
14 In the wilderness, their desires ran wild,
testing God's patience in that dry land.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
but he sent a plague along with it.
16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
and envious of Aaron, the LORD's holy priest.
17 Because of this, the earth opened up;
it swallowed Dathan
and buried Abiram and the other rebels.
18 Fire fell upon their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 The people made a calf at Mount Sinai;
they bowed before an image made of gold.
20 They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass- eating ox!
21 They forgot God, their savior,
who had done such great things in Egypt--
22 such wonderful things in that land,
such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
23 So he declared he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people.
He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.
24 The people refused to enter the pleasant land,
for they wouldn't believe his promise to care for them.
25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents
and refused to obey the LORD.
26 Therefore, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
27 that he would scatter their descendants among the nations,
exiling them to distant lands.
28 Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;
they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
29 They angered the LORD with all these things,
so a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas had the courage to step in,
and the plague was stopped.
31 So he has been regarded as a righteous man
ever since that time.
Honey seems tasteless to a person who is full, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry. A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest. The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense
HEBREWS 8:1- 13
PSALM 106:13- 31
PROVERBS 27:7- 9
"Then at last my [the LORD's] fury against you [Jerusalem] will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. 43 But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign LORD. For to all your disgusting sins, you have added these lewd acts. 44 Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, `Like mother, like daughter. '45 For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother must have been a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46" Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. 47 But you have not merely sinned as they did-- no, that was nothing to you. In a very short time you far surpassed them! 48 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. 49 Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and gluttony, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50 She was proud and did loathsome things, so I wiped her out, as you have seen. 51 "Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more loathsome things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you! 52 You should be deeply ashamed because your sins are so terrible. In comparison, you make your sisters seem innocent! 53" But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. 54 Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. 55 Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. 56 In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. 57 But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned-- by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia. 58 This is your punishment for all your disgusting sins, says the LORD. 59 "Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says:I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60 Yet I will keep the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. 62 And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. 63 You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silence and shame when I forgive you of all that you have done, says the Sovereign LORD." 17:1 THEN this message came to me from the LORD:2 "Son of man, tell this story to the people of Israel. 3 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD:A great eagle with broad wings full of many- colored feathers came to Lebanon. He took hold of the highest branch of a cedar tree 4 and plucked off its topmost shoot. Then he carried it away to a city filled with merchants, where he planted it. 5" Then he planted one of its seedlings in fertile ground beside a broad river, where it would grow as quickly as a willow tree. 6 It took root there and grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned up toward the eagle, and its roots grew down beneath it. It soon produced strong branches and luxuriant leaves. 7 But then another great eagle with broad wings and full plumage came along. So the vine sent its roots and branches out toward him for water. 8 The vine did this even though it was already planted in good soil and had plenty of water so it could grow into a splendid vine and produce rich leaves and luscious fruit. 9 "So now the Sovereign LORD asks:Should I let this vine grow and prosper? No! I will pull it out, roots and all! I will cut off its fruit and let its leaves wither and die. I will pull it out easily enough-- it won't take a strong arm or a large army to do it. 10 Then when the vine is transplanted, will it thrive? No, it will wither away completely when the east wind blows against it. It will die in the same good soil where it had grown so well." 11 Then this message came to me from the LORD:12 "Say to these rebels of Israel:Don't you understand the meaning of this riddle of the eagles? I will tell you, says the Sovereign LORD. The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes, and brought them to Babylon. 13 He made a treaty with a member of the royal family and made him take an oath of loyalty. He also exiled Israel's most influential leaders, 14 so Israel would not become strong again and revolt. Only by keeping her treaty with Babylon could Israel maintain her national identity. 15" Nevertheless, this man of Israel's royal family rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to request a great army and many horses. Can Israel break her sworn treaties like that and get away with it? 16 No! For as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, the king of Israel will die in Babylon, the land of the king who put him in power and whose treaty he despised and broke. 17 Pharaoh and all his mighty army will fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and destroys the lives of many. 18 For the king of Israel broke his treaty after swearing to obey; therefore, he will not escape. 19 "So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:As surely as I live, I will punish him for breaking my covenant and despising the solemn oath he made in my name. 20 I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and deal with him there for this treason against me. 21 And all the best warriors of Israel will be killed in battle, and those remaining in the city will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken these words. 22" And the Sovereign LORD says:I will take a tender shoot from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel's highest mountain. 23 It will become a noble cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter beneath its branches. 24 And all the trees will know that it is I, the LORD, who cuts down the tall tree and helps the short tree to grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives new life to the dead tree. I, the LORD, have spoken! I will do what I have said. "
Here is the main point:Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand. 2 There he ministers in the sacred tent, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. 3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law of Moses. 5 They serve in a place of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning:" Be sure that you make everything according to the design I have shown you here on the mountain. "6 But our High Priest has been given a ministry that is far superior to the ministry of those who serve under the old laws, for he is the one who guarantees for us a better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But God himself found fault with the old one when he said:" The day will come, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
9 This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
so they will understand them,
and I will write them on their hearts
so they will obey them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their family,
saying, `You should know the Lord.'
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will already know me.
12 And I will forgive their wrongdoings,
and I will never again remember their sins. "
13 When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside.
Yet how quickly they [the Israelites] forgot what he [the LORD] had done!
They wouldn't wait for his counsel!
14 In the wilderness, their desires ran wild,
testing God's patience in that dry land.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
but he sent a plague along with it.
16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
and envious of Aaron, the LORD's holy priest.
17 Because of this, the earth opened up;
it swallowed Dathan
and buried Abiram and the other rebels.
18 Fire fell upon their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 The people made a calf at Mount Sinai;
they bowed before an image made of gold.
20 They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass- eating ox!
21 They forgot God, their savior,
who had done such great things in Egypt--
22 such wonderful things in that land,
such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
23 So he declared he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people.
He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.
24 The people refused to enter the pleasant land,
for they wouldn't believe his promise to care for them.
25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents
and refused to obey the LORD.
26 Therefore, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
27 that he would scatter their descendants among the nations,
exiling them to distant lands.
28 Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;
they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
29 They angered the LORD with all these things,
so a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas had the courage to step in,
and the plague was stopped.
31 So he has been regarded as a righteous man
ever since that time.
Honey seems tasteless to a person who is full, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry. A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest. The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense
