John 9:26–41; 1 John 2:1–11; Job 9:21–35; Ezekiel 27–28

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John 9:26–41

26 They said to him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? 27 He answered them, gI have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? 28 And they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple, but hwe are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, iwe do not know where he comes from. 30 The man answered, Why, this is jan amazing thing! kYou do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that lGod does not listen to sinners, but mif anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 nIf this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered him, oYou were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? And they pcast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, Do you believe in qthe Son of Man?1 36 He answered, rAnd who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? 37 Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and sit is he who is speaking to you. 38 He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, tFor judgment I came into this world, uthat those who do not see may see, and vthose who see may become blind. 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, wAre we also blind? 41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, xyou would have no guilt;2 but now that you say, We see, your guilt remains.


1 John 2:1–11

Christ Our Advocate

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but aalso for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we bkeep his commandments. Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments cis a liar, and cthe truth is not in him, but whoever dkeeps his word, in him truly ethe love of God is perfected. fBy this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he gabides in him hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

Beloved, I am writing you ino new commandment, but jan old commandment kthat you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because1 mthe darkness is passing away and nthe true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and ohates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him2 there is no pcause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and qwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.


Job 9:21–35

21  I am xblameless; I regard not myself;

I yloathe my life.

22  It is all one; therefore I say,

He zdestroys both the blameless and the wicked.

23  When adisaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity1 of the innocent.

24  bThe earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he ccovers the faces of its judges

dif it is not he, who then is it?

25  My edays are swifter than fa runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26  They go by like gskiffs of reed,

like han eagle swooping on the prey.

27  If I say, iI will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and jbe of good cheer,

28  I become kafraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not lhold me innocent.

29  I shall be mcondemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30  If I wash myself with snow

and ncleanse my hands with lye,

31  yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will oabhor me.

32  For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should pcome to trial together.

33  qThere is no2 arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  rLet him take his srod away from me,

and let tnot dread of him terrify me.

35  Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.


Ezekiel 27–28

A Lament for Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me: Now you, tson of man, uraise a lamentation over Tyre, and say to Tyre, who dwells at vthe entrances to the sea, wmerchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:

O Tyre, you have said,

I am xperfect in beauty.

Your borders are yin the heart of the seas;

your builders made perfect your beauty.

They made all your planks

of fir trees from zSenir;

they took aa cedar from Lebanon

to make a mast for you.

Of boaks of Bashan

they made your oars;

they made your deck of pines

from cthe coasts of Cyprus,

inlaid with ivory.

dOf fine embroidered linen from Egypt

was your sail,

serving as your banner;

blue and purple from cthe coasts of Elishah

was your awning.

The inhabitants of Sidon and eArvad

were your rowers;

your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;

they were fyour pilots.

The elders of gGebal and her skilled men were in you,

hcaulking your seams;

all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you

to barter for your wares.

10 iPersia and jLud and iPut were in your army as your men of war. kThey hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of eArvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made xperfect your beauty.

12 lTarshish did mbusiness with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your nwares. 13 oJavan, pTubal, and pMeshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From qBeth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules rfor your wares. 15 The men of sDedan1 traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria tdid business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares uemeralds, upurple, vembroidered work, wfine linen, coral, and xruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise ywheat of zMinnith, meal,2 honey, oil, and abalm. 18 bDamascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and cwool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine3 from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, dcassia, and ecalamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of fKedar were your favored dealers fin lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of gSheba and gRaamah traded with you; they exchanged hfor your wares ithe best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 jHaran, Canneh, jEden, traders of Sheba, kAsshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of lblue and lembroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 mThe ships of nTarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden oin the heart of the seas.

26  Your rowers have brought you out

into the high seas.

pThe east wind has wrecked you

in the heart of the seas.

27  Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,

your mariners and qyour pilots,

ryour caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,

and all your men of war who are in you,

with all your crew

that is in your midst,

sink into the heart of the seas

son the day of your fall.

28  At the sound of the cry of your pilots

tthe countryside shakes,

29  and down from their ships

ucome all who handle the oar.

The mariners and all the pilots of the sea

stand on the land

30  uand shout aloud over you

and cry out bitterly.

vThey cast dust on their heads

wand wallow in ashes;

31  they xmake themselves bald for you

and put sackcloth on their waist,

and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,

with bitter mourning.

32  In their wailing they yraise a lamentation for you

and lament over you:

zWho is like Tyre,

like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33  When your wares came from the seas,

ayou satisfied many peoples;

with your abundant wealth and merchandise

ayou enriched the kings of the earth.

34  Now byou are wrecked by the seas,

in the depths of the waters;

your merchandise and all your crew in your midst

have sunk with you.

35  cAll the inhabitants of the coastlands

are appalled at you,

and dthe hair of their kings bristles with horror;

their faces are convulsed.

36  eThe merchants among the peoples fhiss at you;

gyou have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more forever.

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me: hSon of man, say to ithe prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

jBecause your heart is proud,

and kyou have said, I am a god,

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,

yet lyou are but a man, and no god,

mthough you make your heart like the heart of a god

nyou are indeed wiser othan pDaniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

by your wisdom and your understanding

qyou have made wealth for yourself,

and have gathered gold and silver

into your treasuries;

by your great wisdom in your trade

you have increased your wealth,

and jyour heart has become proud in your wealth

therefore thus says the Lord God:

rBecause you make your heart

like the heart of a god,

therefore, behold, I will bring sforeigners upon you,

the most ruthless of the nations;

and they shall draw their swords against tthe beauty of your wisdom

and defile tyour splendor.

uThey shall thrust you down into the pit,

vand you shall die the death of the slain

in the heart of the seas.

wWill you still say, I am a god,

in the presence of those who kill you,

though lyou are but a man, and no god,

in the hands of those who slay you?

10  xYou shall die the death of the uncircumcised

by the hand of foreigners;

yfor I have spoken, declares the Lord God.

A Lament over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: 12 zSon of man, araise a lamentation over bthe king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

You were the signet of perfection,4

cfull of wisdom and dperfect in beauty.

13  You were in eEden, the garden of God;

fevery precious stone was your covering,

gsardius, topaz, and diamond,

beryl, onyx, and jasper,

sapphire,5 femerald, and carbuncle;

and crafted in gold were your settings

and your engravings.6

iOn the day that you were created

they were prepared.

14  You were an anointed jguardian cherub.

I placed you;7 you were on kthe holy mountain of God;

in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

15  You were blameless in your ways

lfrom the day you were created,

till unrighteousness was found in you.

16  In the abundance of myour trade

you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;

so I cast you as a profane thing from kthe mountain of God,

and I destroyed you,8 jO guardian cherub,

from the midst of the stones of fire.

17  nYour heart was proud because of oyour beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I exposed you before kings,

to feast their eyes on you.

18  By the multitude of your iniquities,

in the unrighteousness of your trade

you profaned your sanctuaries;

so pI brought fire out from your midst;

it consumed you,

and I turned you to ashes on the earth

qin the sight of all who saw you.

19  All who know you among the peoples

are appalled at you;

ryou have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more forever.

Prophecy Against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 sSon of man, tset your face toward uSidon, and tprophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God:

Behold, vI am against you, O Sidon,

and wI will manifest my glory in your midst.

And xthey shall know that I am the Lord

ywhen I execute judgments in her

and zmanifest my holiness in her;

23  for I will send apestilence into her,

and blood into her streets;

and the slain shall fall in her midst,

by the sword that is against her on every side.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.

24 And for the house of Israel bthere shall be no more a brier to prick or ca thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors dwho have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

Israel Gathered in Security

25 Thus says the Lord God: eWhen I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and zmanifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, fthen they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 gAnd they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, hwhen I execute judgments upon all their neighbors dwho have treated them with contempt. xThen they will know that I am the Lord their God.