Ezek. 24

24:1 The Lord’s message came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month: 2“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3Recite a proverb to this rebellious house and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Set on the pot, set it on,

pour water in it too;

4add the pieces of meat to it,

every good piece,

the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

5Take the choice bone of the flock,

heap up wood under it;

boil rapidly,

and boil its bones in it.

6“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot whose rot is in it,

whose rot has not been removed from it!

Empty it piece by piece.

No lot has fallen on it.

7For her blood was in it;

she poured it on an exposed rock;

she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

8To arouse anger, to take vengeance,

I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.

9“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I will also make the pile high.

10Pile up the wood, kindle the fire;

cook the meat well, mix in the spices,

and let the bones be charred.

11Set the empty pot on the coals,

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed.

12It has tried my patience;

yet its thick rot is not removed from it.

Subject its rot to the fire!

13You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct.

I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

14“‘I, the Lord, have spoken; judgment is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

15The Lord’s message came to me: 16“Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears. 17Groan to moan for the dead, but do not perform mourning rites. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip and do not eat food brought by others.”

18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning I acted just as I was commanded. 19Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”

20So I said to them: “The Lord’s message came to me: 21Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion. Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die by the sword. 22Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others. 23Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot for your iniquities and groan among yourselves. 24Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’

25“And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take from them their stronghold—their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, as well as their sons and daughters: 26On that day a fugitive will come to you to report the news. 27On that day you will be able to speak again; you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ps. 85

85:1 For the music director, written by the Korahites, a psalm.

O Lord, you showed favor to your land;

you restored the well-being of Jacob.

2You pardoned the wrongdoing of your people;

you forgave all their sin. (Selah)

3You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger.

4Restore us, O God our deliverer.

Do not be displeased with us.

5Will you stay mad at us forever?

Will you remain angry throughout future generations?

6Will you not revive us once more?

Then your people will rejoice in you.

7O Lord, show us your loyal love.

Bestow on us your deliverance.

8I will listen to what God the Lord says.

For he will make peace with his people, his faithful followers.

Yet they must not return to their foolish ways.

9Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance;

then his splendor will again appear in our land.

10Loyal love and faithfulness meet;

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss.

11Faithfulness grows from the ground,

and deliverance looks down from the sky.

12Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings,

and our land will yield its crops.

13Deliverance goes before him,

and prepares a pathway for him.

Heb. 1:1–7

1:1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, 2in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. 3The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

5For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? And in another place he says, “I will be his father and he will be my son.” 6But when he again brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” 7And he says of the angels, “He makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire,” (NET Bible)