Great Is Your Faithfulness
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into udarkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my vskin waste away;
he has wbroken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 xhe has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though I call and ycry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a zbear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he abent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
the barrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the claughingstock of all my people,1
the object of their taunts all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with dwormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness2 is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is ebowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The fsteadfast love of the Lord never ceases;3
his gmercies never come to an end;
23 they are new hevery morning;
great is your ifaithfulness.
24 “The Lord is jmy portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will khope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who lwait for him,
to the soul who mseeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait nquietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 let him give his ocheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 for, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the pabundance of his steadfast love;
33 for qhe does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to rdeny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good sand bad come?
39 tWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
and ureturn to the Lord!
41 Let us lift up our vhearts and whands
to God in heaven:
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
44 you have wrapped yourself with a xcloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us yscum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 z“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 apanic and pitfall have come upon us,
bdevastation and destruction;
48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears
cbecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
dlooks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies ewithout cause;
53 they flung me alive finto the pit4
and cast stones on me;
54 gwater closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
55 “I called on your name, O Lord,
hfrom the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 You icame near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have jtaken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their kplots against me.
61 “You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the object of their ltaunts.
64 “You will repay them,5 O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them6 dullness of heart;
your curse will be7 on them.
66 You will pursue them8 in anger and destroy them
from under your heavens, O Lord.”9
The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
4 How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
mat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold,
how they are regarded as nearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
olike the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 pThe tongue of the nursing infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 For the chastisement1 of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment2 of qSodom,
which was roverthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.3
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
swhiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
8 tNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their uskin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord vgave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and he wkindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 They wandered, xblind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
that no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! yUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 The Lord himself6 has zscattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
ano favor to the elders.
17 bOur eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.
18 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our cend drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were dswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
was captured in their pits,
of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of eUz;
but fto you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become gdrunk and strip yourself bare.
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;7
but hyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 Our pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
and iwe bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our jskin is hot as an oven
with the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
kno respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have left the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned lto mourning.
16 The mcrown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart nhas become sick,
for these things our oeyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 pBut you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 Why do you qforget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 rRestore us to yourself, O Lord, sthat we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 unless you have tutterly rejected us,
and you remain uexceedingly angry with us.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel in Babylon
1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the aexiles by the bChebar canal, cthe heavens were opened, and I dsaw evisions of God.1 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the fexile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and gthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.
The Glory of the Lord
4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were hgleaming metal.2 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of ifour living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but jeach had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like kburnished bronze. 8 lUnder their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 mtheir wings touched one another. nEach one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 oAs for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two pcovered their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit3 would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning qcoals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth rlightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a swheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.4 16 As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions5 without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were tfull of eyes all around. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures6 was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 uOver the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an vexpanse, shining like awe-inspiring wcrystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the xsound of their wings ylike the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance zlike sapphire;7 and aseated above the likeness of a throne was ba likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were cgleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.8 28 dLike the appearance of the ebow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, fI fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel’s Call
2 And he said to me, “Son of man,1 gstand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, hthe Spirit entered into me and iset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. jThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And kwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a lrebellious house) mthey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, nbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions.2 Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.
8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and oeat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
