EZEKIEL 20:1-49
HEBREWS 9:11-28
PSALM 107:1-43
PROVERBS 27:11
EZEKIEL 20:1-49
On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD. They sat down in front of me [Ezekiel] to wait for his reply. 2 Then this message came to me from the LORD: 3 " Son of man, give the leaders of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: How dare you come to ask for my help? As surely as I live, I will tell you nothing. This is the word of the Sovereign LORD! 4 " Son of man, bring judgment against them and condemn them. Make them realize how loathsome the actions of their ancestors really were. 5 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore that I, the LORD, would be her God. 6 I promised that I would bring her and her descendants out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them--a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere. 7 Then I said to them, ` Each of you, get rid of your idols. Do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the LORD your God.' 8 " But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of their idols or forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt. 9 But I didn't do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name. That way the surrounding nations wouldn't be able to laugh at Israel's God, who had promised to deliver his people. 10 So I brought my people out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. 11 There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. Yes, all those who keep them will live! 12 And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I, the LORD, had set them apart to be holy, making them my special people. 13 " But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my laws there in the wilderness. They wouldn't obey my instructions even though obedience would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the desert. 14 But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name. That way the nations who saw me lead my people out of Egypt wouldn't be able to claim I destroyed them because I couldn't take care of them. 15 But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth. 16 I told them this because they had rejected my laws, ignored my will for them, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols. 17 Nevertheless, I pitied them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.18 " Then I warned their children and told them not to follow in their parents' footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols. 19 ` I am the LORD your God,' I told them. ` Follow my laws, pay attention to my instructions, 20 and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.' 21 " But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my laws and follow my instructions, even though obeying them would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt. 23 But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness. I vowed I would scatter them among all the nations 24 because they did not obey my laws. They scorned my instructions by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors. 25 I gave them over to worthless customs and laws that would not lead to life. 26 I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods--so I might devastate them and show them that I alone am the LORD. 27 " Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me, 28 for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices and incense on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their drink offerings to them! 29 I said to them, ` What is this high place where you are going?' (This idol shrine has been called Bamah--` high place'--ever since.) 30 " Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping detestable idols? 31 For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves to this day. Should I listen to you or help you, O people of Israel? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will not give you a message even though you have come to me requesting one. 32 " You say, ` We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.' But what you have in mind will never happen. 33 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will rule you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power. 34 With might and fury I will bring you out from the lands where you are scattered. 35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will judge you face to face. 36 I will judge you there just as I did your ancestors in the wilderness after bringing them out of Egypt, says the Sovereign LORD. 37 I will count you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant. 38 I will purge you of all those who rebel and sin against me. I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile, but they will never enter the land of Israel. And when that happens, you will know that I am the LORD. 39 " As for you, O people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: If you insist, go right ahead and worship your idols, but then don't turn around and bring gifts to me. Such desecration of my holy name must stop! 40 For on my holy mountain, says the Sovereign LORD, the people of Israel will someday worship me, and I will accept them. There I will require that you bring me all your offerings and choice gifts and sacrifices. 41 When I bring you home from exile, you will be as pleasing to me as an offering of perfumed incense. And I will display my holiness in you as all the nations watch. 42 Then when I have brought you home to the land I promised your ancestors, you will know that I am the LORD. 43 You will look back at all your sins and hate yourselves because of the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am the LORD, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness, says the Sovereign LORD." 45 Then this message came to me from the LORD: 46 " Son of man, look toward the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the fields of the Negev. 47 Give the southern wilderness this message from the Sovereign LORD: Hear the word of the LORD! I will set you on fire, O forest, and every tree will be burned--green and dry trees alike. The terrible flames will not be quenched; they will scorch everything from south to north. 48 And all the world will see that I, the LORD, have set this fire. It will not be put out." 49 Then I said, " O Sovereign LORD, they are saying of me, ` He only talks in riddles!' "
HEBREWS 9:11-28
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. 12 Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever. 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people's bodies from ritual defilement. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, so that all who are invited can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. 16 Now when someone dies and leaves a will, no one gets anything until it is proved that the person who wrote the will is dead. 17 The will goes into effect only after the death of the person who wrote it. While the person is still alive, no one can use the will to get any of the things promised to them. 18 That is why blood was required under the first covenant as a proof of death. 19 For after Moses had given the people all of God's laws, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God's laws and all the people, using branches of hyssop bushes and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, " This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you." 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the sacred tent and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, we can say that according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified by sprinkling with blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 That is why the earthly tent and everything in it--which were copies of things in heaven--had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. 24 For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate. He did not go into the earthly place of worship, for that was merely a copy of the real Temple in heaven. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the earthly high priest who enters the Most Holy Place year after year to offer the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us.27 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.
PSALM 107:1-43
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.
3 For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some wandered in the desert,
lost and homeless.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
they nearly died.
6 " LORD, help!" they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.
7 He led them straight to safety,
to a city where they could live.
8 Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,
miserable prisoners in chains.
11 They rebelled against the words of God,
scorning the counsel of the Most High.
12 That is why he broke them with hard labor;
they fell, and no one helped them rise again.
13 " LORD, help!" they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
14 He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;
he snapped their chains.
15 Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
16 For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;
he cut apart their bars of iron.
17 Some were fools in their rebellion;
they suffered for their sins.
18 Their appetites were gone,
and death was near.
19 " LORD, help!" they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
20 He spoke, and they were healed--
snatched from the door of death.
21 Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.
23 Some went off in ships,
plying the trade routes of the world.
24 They, too, observed the LORD's power in action,
his impressive works on the deepest seas.
25 He spoke, and the winds rose,
stirring up the waves.
26 Their ships were tossed to the heavens
and sank again to the depths;
the sailors cringed in terror.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits' end.
28 " LORD, help!" they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper
and stilled the waves.
30 What a blessing was that stillness
as he brought them safely into harbor!
31 Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
32 Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
and before the leaders of the nation.
33 He changes rivers into deserts,
and springs of water into dry land.
34 He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
because of the wickedness of those who live there.
35 But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
the dry land into flowing springs.
36 He brings the hungry to settle there
and build their cities.
37 They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
and harvest their bumper crops.
38 How he blesses them!
They raise large families there,
and their herds of cattle increase.
39 When they decrease in number and become impoverished
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 the LORD pours contempt on their princes,
causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
41 But he rescues the poor from their distress
and increases their families like vast flocks of sheep.
42 The godly will see these things and be glad,
while the wicked are stricken silent.
43 Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD.
PROVERBS 27:11
My child, how happy I will be if you turn out to be wise! Then I will be able to answer my critics.
