A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

1 ^eIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^f“Son of man, ^graise a lamentation over ^hPharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

9 “I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. 10 ^uI will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when ^vI brandish my sword before them. ^wThey shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

11 “For thus says the Lord God: ^xThe sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 I will cause ^yyour multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them ^zmost ruthless of nations.

16 ^fThis is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over ^gall her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

17 ^hIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,³ on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ⁱ“Son of man, ^jwail over ^gthe multitude of Egypt, and ^ksend them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, ^lto the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

20 They shall fall amid those ^owho are slain by the sword. Egypt⁴ is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and ^pall her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs ^qshall speak of them, ^rwith their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, ^sthe uncircumcised, ^oslain by the sword.’

22 ^t“Assyria is there, and all her company, ^uits graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in ^vthe uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ^wwho spread terror ^xin the land of the living.

24 ^y“Elam is ^zthere, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them ^aslain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into ^bthe world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and ^cthey bear their shame ^bwith those who go down to the pit. 25 ^dThey have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, ^eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

26 ^f“Meshech-Tubal is ^ethere, and all her multitude, ^eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And ^gthey do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken ^hand lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

29 ⁱ“Edom is ^jthere, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

30 “The princes ^kof the north are there, all of them, and all the ^lSidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, ^mfor all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and ⁿbear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he ^owill be comforted for ^pall his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 ^qFor I spread terror ^rin the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among ^sthe uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^t“Son of man, speak to ^uyour people and say to them, If ^vI bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^wwatchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^xblows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, ^yhis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 ^zHe heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 ^aBut if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, ^athat person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

7 ^b“So you, ^tson of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. ^bWhenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 ^cIf I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, ^cand you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, ^cthat wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 ^dBut if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, ^dthat person shall die in his iniquity, ^ebut you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

10 “And you, ^fson of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^gwe rot away because of them. ^hHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, ⁱAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^jI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^kturn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^kfor why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 ^t“And you, son of man, say to ^lyour people, ^mThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ⁿand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^mand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness⁵ when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^mif he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, ^othough I say to the wicked, ^p‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^qif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked ^rrestores the pledge, ^sgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^tin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 ^uNone of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet ^lyour people say, ^v‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 ^wWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And ^xwhen the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^yI will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Struck Down

21 In the ^ztwelfth year ^aof our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^ba fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^c“The city has been struck down.” 22 ^dNow ^ethe hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 ^f“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ^gwaste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ^h‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ⁱwe are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^jYou eat flesh with the blood and ^klift up your eyes to your idols and ^lshed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 ^mYou rely on the sword, ⁿyou commit abominations, and ⁿeach of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^oAs I live, surely those who are in ^pthe waste places shall fall by ^qthe sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ^qthe beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ^rstrongholds and in caves shall die by ^qpestilence. 28 ^sAnd I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ^ther proud might shall come to an end, and ^uthe mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 ^vThen they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

30 “As for you, ^fson of man, ^wyour people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 ^xAnd they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ^ywith lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and ^zplays⁶ well on an instrument, for ^athey hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 ^bWhen this comes—and come it will!—^cthen they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Warning Against Worldliness

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions¹ are ^yat war within you?² 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 ^aYou adulterous people!³ Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But ^dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^e“God opposes the proud but ^dgives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 ^gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ⁱpurify your hearts, ^jyou double-minded. 9 ^kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 ^lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 ^mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ⁿjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only ^oone lawgiver and ^pjudge, he who is able to save and ^qto destroy. But ^rwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, ^s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, ^u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^vAll such boasting is evil. 17 ^wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

1 Come now, ^xyou rich, weep and howl for the ^ymiseries that are coming upon you. 2 ^zYour riches have rotted and ^zyour garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^aYou have laid up treasure ^bin the last days. 4 Behold, ^cthe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^dthe cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^ethe Lord of hosts. 5 ^fYou have lived on the earth in luxury and ^gin self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^ha day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and ⁱmurdered ^jthe righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,⁵ until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^kthe early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. ^lEstablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^mis at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ⁿso that you may not be judged; behold, ^othe Judge is standing ^pat the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^qthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^rthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^sthe purpose of the Lord, how ^tthe Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, ^udo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^vsing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^wanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^xif he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, ^yconfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^zthat you may be healed. ^aThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.⁶ 17 Elijah was a man ^bwith a nature like ours, and ^che prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^dthree years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 ^eThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, ^fif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^gbrings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^hwill save his soul from death and ⁱwill cover a multitude of sins.