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Ezekiel 33 - 34

Ezekiel, Israel’s Watchman

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have escaped with his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’ 7 “Now as for you, son of man, I have given you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a word from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. 9 But as for you, if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. 10 “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12 Now as for you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13 When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he does iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has done he will die. 14 But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does justice and righteousness, 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has done will be remembered against him. He has done justice and righteousness; he shall surely live. 17 “Yet the sons of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does iniquity, then he shall die in it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Has Been Struck Down

21 Now it happened in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, that those who escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been struck down.”
22 Now the hand of Yahweh had been upon me in the evening, before those who escaped came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. 23 Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 24 “Son of man, they who inhabit these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “You eat meat with the blood in it and lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You stand on account of your sword, you do abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ 27 Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and a desecration, and the lofty pride of her strength will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. 29 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I make the land a desolation and a desecration because of all their abominations which they have done.”’ 30 “But as for you, son of man, the sons of your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the word is which comes forth from Yahweh.’ 31 They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their greedy gain. 32 Behold, you are to them like a lustful song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not do them. 33 So when it comes to pass—behold, it is coming—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been shepherding themselves! Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you sacrifice the fat sheep without shepherding the flock. 4 Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, and the diseased you have not healed, and the broken you have not bound up, and the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you searched for the lost; but with strength and with severity you have dominated them. 5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6 My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to seek or search for them.”’” 7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8 “As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “surely because My flock has become plunder, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not seek for My flock, but rather the shepherds shepherded themselves and did not shepherd My flock; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will seek My flock from their hand and make them cease from shepherding the flock. So the shepherds will not shepherd themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth so that they will not be food for them.”’”

Yahweh Will Shepherd His Flock

11 For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I Myself will seek My sheep and care for them.
12 As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his sheep which are spread out, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 I will shepherd them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and be shepherded in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will shepherd My flock, and I will make them lie down,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16 “I will search for the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with judgment. 17 “As for you, My flock, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. 18 Is it too slight a thing for you that you should be shepherded in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? 19 As for My flock, they must be shepherded on what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!’” 20 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the sickly with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, 22 therefore, I will save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 “Then I will establish over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will shepherd them; he will shepherd them himself and be their shepherd. 24 And I, Yahweh, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken.

Yahweh’s Covenant of Peace

25 “I will cut a covenant of peace with them and cause harmful beasts to cease from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. 27 Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them tremble. 29 I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear the dishonor of the nations anymore. 30 Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares Lord Yahweh. 31 “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Hebrews 2

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

Jesus, the Author of Salvation

5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.
6 But one has testified somewhere, saying,
What is man, that You remember him?
Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7
You have made him for a little while lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And have appointed him over the works of Your hands;
8
You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels—Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,
“I will recount Your name to My brothers,
In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.”
13 And again,
“I will put My trust in Him.”
And again,
Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to help those who are tempted.

Proverbs 7

The Adulteress’ Trap

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2
Keep my commandments and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
3
Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend;
5
In order to keep you from the strange woman,
From the foreign woman who flatters with her words.

6
For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
7
And I saw among the simple,
And discerned among the sons
A young man lacking a heart of wisdom,
8
Passing through the street near her corner;
And he strides along the way to her house,
9
In the twilight, in the evening of that day,
In the middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.
10
And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11
She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not dwell at home;
12
Stepping in the streets, stepping in the squares,
And near every corner she lies in wait.
13
So she seizes him and kisses him
And with a brazen face she says to him:
14
“The sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;
Today I paid my vows.
15
Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.
16
I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.
17
I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18
Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.
19
For my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a journey far away;
20
He took a bag of silver in his hand,
On the day of the full moon he will come home.”
21
With her abundant persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she drives him to herself.
22
He suddenly follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,
23
Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
And he does not know that it will cost him his soul.

24
So now, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25
Do not let your heart go astray into her ways,
Do not wander into her pathways.
26
For many are the slain whom she has cast down,
And numerous are all those killed by her.
27
The ways to Sheol are in her house,
Descending to the chambers of death.