EZEKIEL 35:1-36:38
JAMES 1:1-18
PSALM 116:1-19
PROVERBS 27:23-27
EZEKIEL 35:1-36:38
Again a message came to me [Ezekiel] from the LORD: 2 " Son of man, turn toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people. 3 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely. 4 I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you will know that I am the LORD. 5 Your continual hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins. 6 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come! 7 I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return. 8 I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your streams will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword. 9 I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 10 " For you said, ` The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!' 11 Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will bring honor to my name by what I do to you. 12 Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, ` They have been destroyed; they have been given to us as food to eat!' 13 In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all! 14 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate. 15 You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel's inheritance. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the LORD!36:1 " SON of man, prophesy to Israel's mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD! 2 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, ` Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!' 3 Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, and now you are possessed by many nations. You are the object of much mocking and slander. 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by foreign nations everywhere. 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My jealous anger is on fire against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder. 6 " Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am full of fury because you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations. 7 Therefore, says the Sovereign LORD, I have raised my hand and sworn an oath that those nations will soon have their turn at suffering shame. 8 But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people's return--and they will be coming home again soon! 9 See, I am concerned for you, and I will come to help you. Your ground will be tilled and your crops planted. 10 I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. 11 Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their inheritance. You will never again devour their children. 13 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Now the other nations taunt you, saying, ` Israel is a land that devours her own people!' 14 But you will never again devour your people or bereave your nation, says the Sovereign LORD. 15 I will not allow those foreign nations to sneer at you, and you will no longer be shamed by them or cause your nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD." 16 Then this further message came to me from the LORD: 17 " Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their evil deeds. To me their conduct was as filthy as a bloody rag. 18 They polluted the land with murder and by worshiping idols, so I poured out my fury on them. 19 I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. 20 But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought dishonor to my holy name. For the nations said, ` These are the people of the LORD, and he couldn't keep them safe in his own land!' 21 Then I was concerned for my holy name, which had been dishonored by my people throughout the world. 22 " Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back again but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you dishonored while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is--the name you dishonored among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. 25 " Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command. 28 " And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops, and I will abolish famine in the land. 30 I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then you will remember your past sins and hate yourselves for all the evil things you did. 32 But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done! 33 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring people to live in your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The fields that used to lie empty and desolate--a shock to all who passed by--will again be farmed. 35 And when I bring you back, people will say, ` This godforsaken land is now like Eden's garden! The ruined cities now have strong walls, and they are filled with people!' 36 Then the nations all around--all those still left--will know that I, the LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD, have promised this, and I will do it. 37 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests. 38 I will multiply them like the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD."
JAMES 1:1-18
This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations. Greetings! 2 Dear brothers and sisters,* whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. 5 If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.9 Christians who are poor should be glad, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should be glad, for God has humbled them. They will fade away like a flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and dries up the grass; the flower withers, and its beauty fades away. So also, wealthy people will fade away with all of their achievements. 12 God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, " God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. 14 Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. 15 These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. 16 So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.17 Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. 18 In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.
PSALM 116:1-19
I love the LORD because he hears
and answers my prayers.
2 Because he bends down and listens,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
3 Death had its hands around my throat;
the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
" Please, LORD, save me!"
5 How kind the LORD is! How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!
6 The LORD protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and then he saved me.
7 Now I can rest again,
for the LORD has been so good to me.
8 He has saved me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 And so I walk in the LORD's presence
as I live here on earth!
10 I believed in you, so I prayed,
" I am deeply troubled, LORD."
11 In my anxiety I cried out to you,
" These people are all liars!"
12 What can I offer the LORD
for all he has done for me?
13 I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation;
I will praise the LORD's name for saving me.
14 I will keep my promises to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
15 The LORD's loved ones are precious to him;
it grieves him when they die.
16 O LORD, I am your servant;
yes, I am your servant, the son of your handmaid,
and you have freed me from my bonds!
17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will keep my promises to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the house of the LORD,
in the heart of Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!
PROVERBS 27:23-27
Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don't last forever, and the crown might not be secure for the next generation. After the hay is harvested, the new crop appears, and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will be sold for the price of a field. And you will have enough goats' milk for you, your family, and your servants.
