Ezekiel 31–33

tIn the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: uSon of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to vhis multitude:

wWhom are you like in your greatness?

Behold, xAssyria was a ycedar in zLebanon,

with beautiful branches and aforest shade,

band of towering height,

its top among the clouds.1

The waters nourished it;

the deep made it grow tall,

making cits rivers flow

around the place of its planting,

sending forth its streams

to all the trees of the field.

So dit towered high

above all the trees of the field;

its boughs grew large

and its branches long

from eabundant water in its shoots.

fAll the birds of the heavens

made their nests in its boughs;

under its branches all the beasts of the field

gave birth to their young,

and under its shadow

lived all great nations.

It was gbeautiful in its greatness,

in the length of its branches;

efor its roots went down

to abundant waters.

hThe cedars iin the garden of God could not rival it,

nor the fir trees equal its boughs;

neither were the plane trees

like its branches;

no tree iin the garden of God

was its equal in beauty.

I made it beautiful

in the mass of its branches,

and all the trees of jEden envied it,

that were in the garden of God.

10 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because kit2 towered high and set its top among the clouds,3 and lits heart was proud of its height, 11 I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12 mForeigners, mthe most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. nOn the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all othe ravines of the land, and pall the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. 13 qOn its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. 14 rAll this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,4 and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, sto the world tbelow, among the children of man,5 with those who go down to the pit.

15 Thus says the Lord God: On the day uthe cedar6 went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16 vI made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, uwhen I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. wAnd all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, xwere comforted in the world below. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, yto those who are slain by the sword; yes, zthose who were its arm, awho lived under its shadow among the nations.

18 bWhom are you thus like in glory and in greatness wamong the trees of Eden? cYou shall be brought down with wthe trees of Eden to the world below. dYou shall lie among the uncircumcised, ywith those who are slain by the sword.

bThis is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.

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

You consider yourself ia lion of the nations,

but you are like ja dragon kin the seas;

lyou burst forth in your rivers,

trouble the waters with your feet,

and foul their rivers.

Thus says the Lord God:

mI will throw my net over you

with a host of nmany peoples,

and othey will haul you up in my dragnet.

And pI will cast you on the ground;

on the open field I will fling you,

and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,

and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.

I will strew your flesh qupon the mountains

and fill the valleys with your carcass.7

I will drench the land even to the mountains

with your flowing blood,

and the ravines will be full of you.

rWhen I blot you out, sI will cover the heavens

and make their stars dark;

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon shall not give its light.

All the bright lights of heaven

will I make dark over you,

and tput darkness on your land,

declares the Lord God.

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.

aThey shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,

and all its multitude8 shall perish.

13  I will destroy all its beasts

from beside many waters;

band no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,

nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

14  Then cI will make their waters clear,

and cause their rivers to run like oil,

declares the Lord God.

15  When I make the land of Egypt desolate,

and when the land dis desolate of all that fills it,

when I strike down all who dwell in it,

then ethey will know that I am the Lord.

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,9 on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 iSon 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:

19  mWhom do you surpass in beauty?

Go down and nbe laid to rest with the uncircumcised.

20 They shall fall amid those owho are slain by the sword. Egypt10 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 tAssyria 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 yElam 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 fMeshech-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 iEdom 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.

The word of the Lord came to me: tSon 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, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and xblows the trumpet and warns the people, 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. 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. 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.

bSo 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. 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. 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.

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 tAnd 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 righteousness11 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, pYou 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, vThe 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.

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, cThe 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 fSon of man, the inhabitants of these gwaste places in the land of Israel keep saying, hAbraham 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 zplays12 well on an instrument, for athey hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 bWhen this comesand come it will!cthen they will know that a prophet has been among them.

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John 11

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of lMary and her sister Martha. mIt was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, nhe whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it he said, oThis illness does not lead to death. It is for pthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Now qJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus1 was ill, rhe stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, sLet us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, tRabbi, uthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? Jesus answered, vAre there not twelve hours in the day? wIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But xif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not xin him. 11 After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus yhas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. 12 The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. 16 zSo Thomas, called the Twin,2 said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, athat we may die with him.

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb bfour days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles3 off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary cto console them concerning their brother. 20 dSo when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to eJesus, Lord, fif you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, gGod will give you. 23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. 24 hMartha said to him, I know that he will rise again in ithe resurrection on the last day. 25 Jesus said to her, jI am the resurrection and kthe life.4 Whoever believes in me, lthough he die, myet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me nshall never die. Do you believe this? 27 She said to him, Yes, Lord; oI believe that pyou are the Christ, the Son of God, qwho is coming into the world.

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, rThe Teacher is here and is calling for you. 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews swho were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, tLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he uwas deeply moved5 in his spirit and vgreatly troubled. 34 And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. 35 wJesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, See xhow he loved him! 37 But some of them said, Could not he ywho opened the eyes of the blind man zalso have kept this man from dying?

38 Then Jesus, adeeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ba cave, and ca stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for dhe has been dead four days. 40 Jesus said to her, eDid I not tell you that if you believed you would see fthe glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus glifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 hI knew that you always hear me, but I said this ion account of the people standing around, jthat they may believe that you sent me. 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. 44 kThe man who had died came out, lhis hands and feet bound with linen strips, and mhis face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go.

45 nMany of the Jews therefore, owho had come with Mary and phad seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees qgathered rthe council and said, sWhat are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and tthe Romans will come and take away both our uplace and our nation. 49 But one of them, vCaiaphas, wwho was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that xit is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but ybeing high priest that year zhe prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and anot for the nation only, but also bto gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they cmade plans to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore dno longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

55 Now ethe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and fmany went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover gto purify themselves. 56 hThey were looking for6 Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all? 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

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2 View All Leviticus 19:27