Ezekiel 35 - 36 - Legacy Standard Bible

Ezekiel 35 - 36

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it 3 and say to it, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,

And I will stretch out My hand against you

And make you a desolation and a desecration.

I will lay waste your cities,

And you will become a desolation.

Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

5 Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the punishment of the end, 6 therefore as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will prepare you for bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; you surely have not hated bloodshed, so bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. 9 I will make you an everlasting desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although Yahweh was there, 11 therefore as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your jealousy which you dealt with them because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your contempt which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.’ 13 And you have magnified yourselves with your mouth against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.” 14 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “As all the earth delights, I will make you a desolation. 15 As you delighted over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’

Mountains of Israel Will Bear Fruit

“Now as for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. 2 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “For good reason they have made you desolate and bruised you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations, and you have been taken up in the speech of their tongue and the rumors of the people.”’” 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Lord Yahweh. Thus says Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become plunder and objects of scoffing to the rest of the nations which are round about, 5 therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted gladness and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for plunder.” 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have borne the dishonor of the nations.’ 7 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves bear their dishonor. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 11 I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will multiply and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh. 12 And I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’ 13 “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” 14 therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares Lord Yahweh. 15 I will not let you hear dishonor from the nations anymore, nor will you bear reproach from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

Yahweh’s Name Profaned Among the Nations

16 Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 Also I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 Then they came to the nations to which they came. And they profaned My holy name because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh; yet they have come out of His land.’ 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

They Will Know That I Am Yahweh

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, to which you have come. 23 I will prove the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh,” declares Lord Yahweh, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24 And I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments. 28 And you will inhabit the land that I gave to your fathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field so that you will not receive again the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves to your own faces for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares Lord Yahweh, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and feel dishonor for your ways, O house of Israel!” 33 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 And they will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that remain all around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, Yahweh, have spoken and will do it.” 37 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This also I will let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like the flock for holy offerings, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed times, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

Hebrews 3

Jesus Greater than Moses

Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession—Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. 3 For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope. 7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today if you hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,

As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me,

And saw My works for forty years.

Therefore I was angry with this generation,

And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,

And they did not know My ways’;

As I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

Warning Against Unbelief

12 See to it brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,

“Today if you hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”

16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

Proverbs 8

The Blessing of Wisdom

Does not wisdom call,

And discernment give forth her voice?

At the top of the heights upon the way,

Where the pathways meet, she takes her stand;

Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she makes a shout:

“To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

O simple ones, understand prudence;

And, O fools, understand a heart of wisdom.

Listen, for I will speak noble things;

And the opening of my lips will reveal upright things.

For my mouth will utter truth;

And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

They are all straightforward to him who understands,

And right to those who find knowledge.

Take my discipline and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choicest fine gold.

For wisdom is better than pearls;

And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

And I find knowledge and discretion.

The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogance and the evil way

And the mouth of perverted words, I hate.

Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;

I am understanding, might is mine.

By me kings reign,

And rulers mark out righteousness.

By me princes rule, and nobles,

All who judge rightly.

I love those who love me;

And those who earnestly seek me will find me.

Riches and glory are with me,

Enduring wealth and righteousness.

My fruit is better than fine gold, even pure gold,

And my produce better than choice silver.

I walk in the path of righteousness,

In the midst of the pathways of justice,

To give those who love me an inheritance of wealth,

That I may fill their treasuries.

“Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His deeds of old.

From everlasting I was installed,

From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,

When there were no springs heavy with water.

Before the mountains were settled,

Before the hills I was brought forth;

While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside,

Nor the first dust of the world.

When He established the heavens, I was there,

When He marked out a circle on the face of the deep,

When He made firm the skies above,

When the springs of the deep became strong,

When He set for the sea its boundary

So that the water would not pass over His command,

When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;

And I was a daily delight,

Rejoicing always before Him,

Rejoicing in the world, His earth,

My delight is in the sons of men.

“So now, O sons, listen to me,

For blessed are they who keep my ways.

Hear discipline and be wise,

And do not neglect it.

How blessed is the man who hears me,

To watch daily at my doors,

To keep watch at my doorposts.

For he who finds me finds life

And obtains favor from Yahweh.

But he who sins against me does violence to his own soul;

All those who hate me love death.”