Ezekiel 5 - 6, Ephesians 5 - 6, Psalm 139

The Siege of Jerusalem

5“Now as for you, son of man, take a ^asharp sword; take and ¹use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take ^bscales for weighing and divide ²the hair. ²“One-third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city when the ^adays of the siege are fulfilled. Then you shall take one-third and strike it with the sword all around ¹the city, and one-third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will ^bunsheathe a sword behind them. ³“You shall also take a few in number from ¹them and bind them in the edges of your robes. ⁴“Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will ¹spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵“Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘This is ^aJerusalem; I have set her at the ^bcenter of the nations, with lands all around her. ⁶‘But she has rebelled against My judgments more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes ^amore than the lands which are all around her; for they have ^brejected My judgments and have not walked ¹in My statutes.’ ⁷“Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have ^amore turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ ⁸therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am ^aagainst you, and I will ^bexecute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ⁹‘And I will do among you what I have ^anot done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. ¹⁰‘Therefore, ^afathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and ^bscatter all your remnant to every wind. ¹¹‘So as I live,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have ^adefiled My sanctuary with all your ^bdetestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity, and I will not spare. ¹²‘One-third of you will die by the ^aplague or be consumed by the famine among you, one-third will fall by the sword around you, and one-third I will ^bscatter to every wind, and I will ^cunsheathe a sword behind them.

¹³‘Thus My anger will be spent, and I will cause My wrath against them to be at rest, and I will be ¹^,^aappeased; then they will know that I, Yahweh, have ^bspoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. ¹⁴‘Moreover, I will make you a ¹ruin and a ^areproach among the nations which are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵‘So ¹it will be a reproach, a reviling, a ^achastisement, and a desecration to the nations who are all around you when I ^bexecute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and wrathful reproofs. I, Yahweh, have spoken. ¹⁶‘When I send against them the ¹deadly arrows of famine which ²were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. ¹⁷‘Moreover, ^aI will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; ^bplague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, Yahweh, have spoken.’”

Yahweh Will Destroy Israel’s Pagan Altars

6And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Son of man, set your face toward the ^amountains of Israel, and prophesy against them ³and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Lord Yahweh! Thus says Lord Yahweh to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and ^aI will destroy your high places. ⁴“So your ^aaltars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be broken; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. ⁵“I will also put the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your ^abones all around your altars. ⁶“In all your places of habitation, ^acities will become waste, and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and ¹desolate, your ^bidols may be broken and cease, your incense altars may be cut in pieces, and your works may be blotted out. ⁷“The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.

⁸“However, I will leave a ^aremnant, for you will have those who ^bescaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the lands. ⁹“Then those of you who escape will ^aremember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have ^bbeen broken over their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will ^cloathe themselves to their own faces for the evils which they have done, for all their abominations. ¹⁰“Then they will know that I am Yahweh; I have not said in vain that I would do this calamitous evil against them.”’

¹¹“Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Strike your hands together, ^astamp your foot and say, “^bAlas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the ^csword, by the famine, and by the plague! ¹²“He who is ^afar off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I ^bspend My wrath on them. ¹³“Then you will know that I am Yahweh when their ^aslain are among their idols all around their altars, on ^bevery high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak—the places where they ¹offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴“So throughout all their habitations I will ^astretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and desecrated than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

Be Imitators of God

5^aTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and ^awalk in love, just as Christ also ^bloved ¹us and ^cgave Himself up for us, an ^doffering and a sacrifice to God ²as a ^efragrant aroma.

³But ^asexual immorality ¹or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among ²saints; ⁴nor ^afilthiness and foolish talk, or coarse jesting, which ^bare not fitting, but rather ^cgiving of thanks. ⁵For this you know with certainty, that ^ano one sexually immoral or impure or greedy, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom ^bof Christ and God.

⁶^aLet no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^bthe wrath of God comes upon ^cthe sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not be ^apartakers with them, ⁸for ^ayou were formerly ^bdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as ^cchildren of light ⁹(for ^athe fruit of that light consists in all ^bgoodness and righteousness and truth), ¹⁰¹^,^atrying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹^aAnd do not participate in the unfruitful ^bworks of ^cdarkness, but instead even ¹^,^dexpose them. ¹²For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things become visible ^awhen they are ¹exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. ¹⁴For this reason ¹it says, “^aAwake, sleeper,And arise from ^bthe dead,And Christ ^cwill shine on you.”

¹⁵Therefore look carefully how you ^awalk, not ^bas unwise but as wise, ¹⁶^aredeeming the time, because ^bthe days are evil. ¹⁷On account of this, do not be foolish, but ^aunderstand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And ^ado not get drunk with wine, ¹for that is ^bdissipation, but be ^cfilled with the Spirit, ¹⁹^aspeaking to ¹one another in ^bpsalms and ^chymns and spiritual ^dsongs, ^esinging and making melody with your heart to the Lord; ²⁰^aalways giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to ¹^,^bGod, even the Father; ²¹¹^,^aand being subject to one another in the ²^,^bfear of Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²^aWives, ^bbe subject to your own husbands, ^cas to the Lord. ²³For ^athe husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the ^bhead of the church, He Himself ^cbeing the Savior of the body. ²⁴But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

²⁵^aHusbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and ^bgave Himself up for her, ²⁶^aso that He might sanctify her, having ^bcleansed her by the ^cwashing of water with ^dthe word, ²⁷that He might ^apresent to Himself the church ¹in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be ^bholy and blameless. ²⁸So husbands ought also to ^alove their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰because we are ^amembers of His ^bbody. ³¹^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. ³²This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to ^alove his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she ¹^,^brespects her husband.

Children and Parents

6^aChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²^aHonor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land.

⁴^aFathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but ^bbring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵^aSlaves, be obedient to those who are your ¹masters according to the flesh, with ^bfear and trembling, in the ²integrity of your heart, ^cas to Christ; ⁶^anot ¹by way of eyeservice, as ^bmen-pleasers, but as ^cslaves of Christ, ^ddoing the will of God from the ²heart, ⁷serving with good will ^aas to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸^aknowing that ^bwhatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^cwhether slave or free.

⁹And masters, do the same things to them, ^agiving up threatening, knowing that ^bboth their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is ^cno partiality with Him.

The Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, ^abe strong in the Lord and in ^bthe might of His strength. ¹¹^aPut on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^bschemes of the devil. ¹²For our ^astruggle is not against ¹^,^bflesh and blood, but ^cagainst the rulers, against the authorities, against the ^dworld forces of this ^edarkness, against the ^fspiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore, take up ^athe full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^bresist in ^cthe evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand firm therefore, ^ahaving girded your loins with truth, and having ^bput on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having ^ashod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. ¹⁶¹In addition to all, having taken up the ^ashield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^bflaming arrows of ^cthe evil one, ¹⁷also receive ^athe helmet of salvation, and the ^bsword of the Spirit, which is ^cthe word of God,

¹⁸^apraying at all times ¹with all ^bprayer and petition ^cin the Spirit, and to this end, ^dbeing on the alert with all ^eperseverance and ^fpetition for all the saints, ¹⁹as well as ^aon my behalf, that ¹words may be given to me ^bin the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^cboldness ^dthe mystery of the gospel— ²⁰for which I am an ^aambassador ^bin ¹chains—so that ²in proclaiming it I may speak ^cboldly, ^das I ought to speak.

²¹^aBut that you also may know about all my affairs, ¹how I am doing, ^bTychicus, ^cthe beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ²²¹^,^aI have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know ²our circumstances, and that he may ^bencourage your hearts.

²³^aPeace be to the brothers, and ^blove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ ¹with incorruptible love.

Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?

139

For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.

O Yahweh, You have ^asearched me and known me.²You ^aknow ¹when I sit down and ²when I rise up;You ^bunderstand my thought from afar.³You ¹^,^ascrutinize my ²path and my lying down,And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.⁴¹Even before there is a word on my tongue,Behold, O Yahweh, You ^aknow it all.⁵You have ^aenclosed me behind and before,And You have ^bput Your hand upon me.⁶Such ^aknowledge is ^btoo wonderful for me;It is too high, I cannot attain to it.⁷^aWhere can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence?⁸^aIf I ascend to heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, ^bYou are there.⁹If I lift up the wings of the dawn,If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,¹⁰Even there Your hand will ^alead me,And Your right hand will lay hold of me.¹¹If I say, “Surely the ^adarkness will ^bbruise me,And the light around me will be night,”¹²Even the ^adarkness is not too dark for You,And the night is as bright as the day.^bDarkness and light are alike to You.¹³For You ^aformed my ¹inward parts;You ^bwove me in my mother’s womb.¹⁴I will give thanks to You, for ¹I am fearfully and wonderfully made;^aWonderful are Your works,And my soul knows it very well.¹⁵My ¹^,^aframe was not hidden from You,When I was made in secret,And ^bintricately woven in the ^cdepths of the earth;¹⁶Your ^aeyes have seen my unshaped substance;And in ^bYour book all of them were writtenThe ^cdays that were formed for me,When as yet there was not one of them.¹⁷How precious are Your ^athoughts to me, O God!How vast is the sum of them!¹⁸If I should count them, they would ^aoutnumber the sand.When ^bI awake, I am still with You.¹⁹Oh that You would ^aslay the wicked, O God!^bO ^cmen of bloodshed, depart from me.²⁰For they ^aspeak ¹against You wickedly,And Your enemies ²^,^btake Your name in vain.²¹Do I not ^ahate those who hate You, O Yahweh?And do I not ^brevile those who rise up against You?²²I hate them with the utmost hatred;They have become my enemies.²³^aSearch me, O God, and know my heart;^bTry me and know my anxious thoughts;²⁴And see if there be any ¹^,^ahurtful way in me,And ^blead me in the ^ceverlasting way.