Ezekiel 19 - 20, 2 Thessalonians, Psalm 147

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

19“As for you, take up a ^alamentation for the ^bprinces of Israel ²and say, ‘¹What was your mother?A lioness among lions!She lay down among young lions;She reared her cubs.

³‘So she brought up one of her cubs;He became a lion,And he learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.⁴‘Then nations heard about him;He was captured in their pit,And they ^abrought him with hooksTo the land of Egypt.⁵‘Then she saw, as she waited,That her hope was lost,So she took ¹another of her cubsAnd made him a young lion.⁶‘And he ^awalked about among the lions;He became a young lion;He learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.⁷‘He ¹knew how to destroy their ²fortified towersAnd laid waste their cities;And the land was in desolation, as well as its fullnessBecause of the sound of his roaring.⁸‘Then ^anations put themselves against himAll around from their provinces,And they spread their net over him;He was captured in their pit.⁹‘^aThey put him in a cage with hooksAnd ^bbrought him to the king of Babylon;They brought him in hunting netsSo that his voice would be heard no moreOn the mountains of Israel.¹⁰‘Your mother was ^alike a vine in your ¹vineyard,Planted by the waters;It was fruitful and full of branchesBecause of abundant waters.¹¹‘And it had ¹^,^astrong thick branches fit for scepters of rulers,And its ^bheight was exalted above the cloudsSo that it was seen in its exaltedness with the mass of its foliage.¹²‘But it was ^auprooted in wrath;It was ^bcast down to the ground;And the ^ceast wind dried up its fruit.Its ¹^,^dstrong thick branch ²was torn offSo that ³it dried up;The fire consumed it.¹³‘So now it is planted in the ^awilderness,In a dry and thirsty land.¹⁴‘And ^afire has gone out from its thick branch;It has consumed its shoots and fruit,So that there is not in it a ¹strong thick branch,A scepter to rule.’” This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

The Abominations of the Fathers of Israel

20Now it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that ¹some of the ^aelders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. ²And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ³“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “^aI will not be inquired of by you.”’ ⁴“Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? ^aMake them know the abominations of their fathers ⁵and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day when I ^achose Israel and ¹swore to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ^bI am Yahweh your God, ⁶on that day I swore to them, ^ato bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had ¹selected for them, ^bflowing with milk and honey, which is ^cthe glory of all lands. ⁷“I said to them, ‘^aCast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and ^bdo not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^cI am Yahweh your God.’ ⁸“But they ^arebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; each one did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the ^bidols of Egypt. Then I said I would ^cpour out My wrath on them, to ¹spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹“But I acted ^afor the sake of My name, that it should ^bnot be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰“So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the ^awilderness. ¹¹“I gave them My ^astatutes and made them know My judgments, ^bwhich, if a man does them, he will live by them. ¹²“And I also gave them My sabbaths to be a ^asign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. ¹³“But the house of Israel ^arebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My judgments, ^bwhich, if a man does them, he will live by them; and My ^csabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would ^dpour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to completely destroy them. ¹⁴“But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵“Also ^aI swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, ¹⁶because they rejected My judgments, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their ^aheart continually walked after their idols. ¹⁷“Yet My eye had pity on them rather than bringing them to ruin, and I did not make of them a ^acomplete destruction in the wilderness.

¹⁸“I said to their ¹^,^achildren in the wilderness, ‘^bDo not walk in the statutes of your fathers and do not keep their judgments and do not defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹‘^aI am Yahweh your God; ^bwalk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. ²⁰‘^aKeep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.’ ²¹“But the ^achildren rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to do My judgments, which, if a man does them, he will live by them; they profaned My sabbaths. So I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger against them in the wilderness. ²²“But I ^aturned back My hand and acted ^bfor the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³“Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would ^ascatter them among the nations and ¹disperse them among the lands ²⁴because they had not done My judgments, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and ^atheir eyes were going after the idols of their fathers. ²⁵“And I also gave them statutes that were ^anot good and judgments by which they could not live; ²⁶and I pronounced them ^aunclean because of their gifts, in that they ^bcaused all ¹their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might ^cknow that I am Yahweh.”’

²⁷“Therefore, son of man, ^aspeak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Yet in this your fathers have ^bblasphemed Me by ^cacting unfaithfully against Me. ²⁸“Indeed, I ^abrought them into the land which I swore to give to them, and they saw every ^bhigh hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they gave the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹“Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you are going?’ So its name is called ¹Bamah to this day.”’ ³⁰“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Will you defile yourselves in the way of your ^afathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? ³¹“¹And when you offer your gifts, when you ^acause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will not be inquired of by you. ³²“And what ^acomes upon your spirit will not happen, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, ^bto minister to wood and stone.’

Yahweh Judges His People

³³“As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “surely with a strong hand and with an ^aoutstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be ^bking over you. ³⁴“And I will ^abring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with ^bwrath poured out; ³⁵and I will bring you into the ^awilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶“As I ^aentered into judgment with your fathers in the ^bwilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares Lord Yahweh. ³⁷“And I will make you ^apass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; ³⁸and I will ^apurge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will ^bnot enter the ¹land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.

³⁹“As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says Lord Yahweh, “^aGo, serve everyone his idols; ¹but after this you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will ^bprofane no longer with your gifts and with your idols. ⁴⁰“For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares Lord Yahweh, “there the whole house of Israel, ^aall of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will ^baccept them, and there I will ¹seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹“¹As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I ^abring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself ^bholy among you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²“And ^ayou will know that I am Yahweh, ^bwhen I bring you onto the ground of Israel, into the ^cland which I swore to give to your fathers. ⁴³“And there you will ^aremember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will ^bloathe yourselves to your own faces for all the evil things that you have done. ⁴⁴“Then ^ayou will know that I am Yahweh when I have dealt with you ^bfor My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

⁴⁵¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁴⁶“Son of man, set your face toward ¹Teman and speak, dripping out words, against the ^asouth and ^bprophesy against the ^cforest ²land of the Negev ⁴⁷and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh: thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to ^akindle a fire in you, and it will consume every ¹green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched, and ²^,^bthe whole surface from south to north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸“And all flesh will see that I, Yahweh, have made it burn; it shall ^anot be quenched.”’” ⁴⁹Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking ^aparables?’”

Greetings of Grace and Thanksgiving

1^aPaul and ^bSilvanus and ^cTimothy, To the ^dchurch of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ²^aGrace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We ought always ^ato give thanks to God for you, ^bbrothers, as is only fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the ^clove of each one of you all toward one another increases all the more, ⁴so that we ourselves ^aboast about you among ^bthe churches of God for your ¹perseverance and faith ^cin the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

God’s Righteous Judgment

⁵This is a ^aplain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be ^bconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. ⁶¹Since ^ait is right ²for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to give rest to you who are afflicted ¹and to us as well ^aat the revelation of the Lord Jesus ^bfrom heaven ^cwith ²His mighty angels ^din flaming fire, ⁸executing vengeance on those who ^ado not know God and to those who ^bdo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹These will pay the penalty of ^aeternal destruction, ^baway from the presence of the ¹Lord and from the glory of His might, ¹⁰when He comes to be ^aglorified ¹in His ²saints on that ^bday, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our ^cwitness to you was believed. ¹¹To this end also we ^apray for you always, that our God will ¹^,^bcount you worthy of your ^ccalling, and fulfill all your ^dgood pleasure for ^egoodness and the ^fwork of faith with power, ¹²so that the ^aname of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

2Now we ask you, ^abrothers, with regard to the ¹^,^bcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^cgathering together to Him, ²that you not be quickly shaken in your mind or be alarmed whether by a ^aspirit or a ^bword or a ^cletter as if from us, to the effect that ^dthe day of the Lord ^ehas come. ³^aLet no one in any way deceive you, for it has not come unless the ¹^,^bapostasy comes first, and the ^cman of lawlessness is revealed, the ^dson of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above ¹^,^aevery so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the ²sanctuary of God, ^bexhibiting himself as being God. ⁵Do you not remember that ^awhile I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶And you know ^awhat restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷For ^athe mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^bhe who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. ⁸And then that lawless one ^awill be revealed—whom the Lord ¹Jesus ^bwill slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^cappearance of His ²coming— ⁹whose ¹coming is in accord with the working of ^aSatan, with all power and ²^,^bsigns and false wonders, ¹⁰and with ¹all the deception of unrighteousness for ^athose who perish, because they did not receive the love of ^bthe truth so as to be saved. ¹¹And for this reason ^aGod sends upon them a ¹^,^bdeluding influence so that they will believe ²what is false, ¹²in order that they all may be ¹judged who ^adid not believe the truth, but ²^,^btook pleasure in unrighteousness.

¹³^aBut we should always give thanks to God for you, ^bbrothers beloved by the Lord, because ^cGod has chosen you ¹as the first fruits ^dfor salvation ^ethrough sanctification ²by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴¹It was for this He ^acalled you through ^bour gospel, ²that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, ^astand firm and ^bhold to the traditions which you were taught, whether ^cby word of mouth or ^dby letter ¹from us.

¹⁶^aNow may our Lord Jesus Christ ^bHimself and God our Father, who has ^cloved us and given us eternal comfort and ^dgood hope by grace, ¹⁷^aencourage your hearts and ^bstrengthen them in every good work and word.

Disobedient Brothers

3^aFinally, brothers, ^bpray for us that ^cthe word of the Lord will ¹spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; ²and that we will be ^arescued from ¹perverse and evil men, for not all have ²faith. ³But ^athe Lord is faithful, who will strengthen and guard you ¹from ^bthe evil one. ⁴And we have ^aconfidence in the Lord about you, that you ^bare doing and will continue to do what we command. ⁵And may the Lord ^adirect your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, brothers, ^ain the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ¹^,^bkeep away from every brother who walks in an ²^,^cunruly manner and not according to ^dthe tradition which ³they received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to ^aimitate us, because we did not act in an unruly manner among you, ⁸nor did we ^aeat ¹anyone’s bread ²without paying for it, but with ^blabor and hardship we kept ^cworking night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; ⁹not because we do not have ^athe authority, but in order to offer ourselves ^bas a model for you, so that you would imitate us. ¹⁰For even ^awhen we were with you, we used to command this to you: ^bif anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat. ¹¹For we hear that some among you are ^awalking in an unruly manner, doing no work at all, but acting like ^bbusybodies. ¹²Now such persons we command and ^aexhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that ^bworking with quietness, they eat their own bread. ¹³But as for you, ^abrothers, ^bdo not lose heart in doing good.

¹⁴And if anyone does not obey our word ¹^,^ain this letter, take special note of that person ^bto not associate with him, so that he will be ^cput to shame. ¹⁵And yet ^ado not regard him as an enemy, but ¹^,^badmonish him as a ^cbrother.

¹⁶Now ^amay the Lord of peace ^bHimself continually give you peace in every ¹circumstance. ^cThe Lord be with you all!

¹⁷The greeting ^ais in my own hand—¹Paul, which is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. ¹⁸^aThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147¹Praise Yah!For ^ait is good to sing praises to our God;For ²it is pleasant and praise is ^bbecoming.²Yahweh ^abuilds up Jerusalem;He ^bgathers the ¹outcasts of Israel.³He is the One who heals the ^abrokenheartedAnd who ^bbinds up their ¹wounds,⁴Who ^acounts the number of the stars;He ¹^,^bgives names to all of them.⁵^aGreat is our Lord and abundant in power;His ^bdiscernment is ¹infinite.⁶Yahweh ¹^,^ahelps up the afflicted;He brings down the wicked to the ground.⁷^aSing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;Sing praises to our God on the lyre.⁸He is the One who ^acovers the heavens with clouds,The One who ^bprovides rain for the earth,The One who ^cmakes grass to sprout on the mountains,⁹Who ^agives to the animal its food,And to the ^byoung ravens which call out.¹⁰He does not delight in the might of the ^ahorse;He ^bdoes not take pleasure in the legs of a man.¹¹Yahweh ^ais pleased with those who fear Him,^bThose who wait for His lovingkindness.¹²Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem!Praise your God, O Zion!¹³For He strengthened the ^abars of your gates;He ^bblessed your sons within you.¹⁴He is the One who ^asets ¹peace in your borders,He ^bsatisfies you with ^cthe ²finest of the wheat,¹⁵The One who sends forth His ^acommand to the earth;His ^bword runs very swiftly,¹⁶The One who gives ^asnow like wool;He scatters the ^bfrost like ashes,¹⁷Who casts forth His ^aice as fragments;Who can stand before His ^bcold?¹⁸He ^asends forth His word and melts them;He ^bcauses His wind to blow and so the waters flow,¹⁹Who ^adeclares His words to Jacob,His ^bstatutes and His judgments to Israel.²⁰He ^ahas not done so with any nation;So as for His judgments, they have ^bnot known them.¹Praise Yah!