Ezekiel 21, 1 Timothy 1 - 2, Psalm 148

The Prophecy of Yahweh’s Sword

21¹And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, ^aset your face toward Jerusalem and ^bspeak, dripping out words against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel ³and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, ^aI am against you; and I will bring out My sword from its sheath and cut off from you the ^brighteous and the wicked. ⁴“Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out from its sheath against ^aall flesh from south to north. ⁵“Thus all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have brought out My sword from its sheath. It will ^anot return to its sheath again.”’ ⁶“Now as for you, son of man, groan with breaking ¹heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. ⁷“And it will be that when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the ^areport that is coming; and ^bevery heart will melt, all hands will fall limp, every spirit will ¹faint, and all knees will ²be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will happen,’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

⁸Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁹“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says ¹the Lord.’ Say, ‘^aA sword, a sword sharpenedAnd also polished!

¹⁰‘Sharpened to make a ^aslaughter,Polished ¹to flash like lightning!’ Or shall we ²rejoice in the ³scepter of My son? The sword ^bdespises every tree.

¹¹“It is given to be polished, that it may be seized by the ¹hand; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the one who kills. ¹²“^aCry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people; it is against all the ^bprinces of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people; therefore slap your thigh. ¹³“For there is a testing; and what if even the ¹scepter ²which the sword despises will be no more?” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁴“You therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be ^adoubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, ¹⁵that their ^ahearts may melt, and many will be ^bstumbling blocks at all their ^cgates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. ¹⁶“¹Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your ²edge is appointed. ¹⁷“And I will also strike My hands together, and I will ¹^,^acause My wrath to be at rest; I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

A Sword for Slaughter

¹⁸And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ¹⁹“Now as for you, son of man, ¹^,^amake two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And ²make a signpost; ³make it at the head of the way to the city. ²⁰“You shall ¹mark a way for the sword to come to ^aRabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judah into ^bfortified Jerusalem. ²¹“For the king of Babylon stands at the ¹parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ^adivination; he ^bshakes the arrows; he asks the ²^,^chousehold idols; he looks at the liver. ²²“Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to ^aset battering rams, to open the mouth ¹for killing, to lift up the voice with a shout of war, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. ²³“And it will be to them like a worthless divination in their eyes; ^athey have sworn solemn oaths. But he ^bbrings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

²⁴“Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. ²⁵‘And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ^aday has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,’ ²⁶thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Remove the turban and take off the ^acrown; this will ¹no longer be the same. ^bMake high that which is low and make low that which is high. ²⁷‘^aA ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until ^bHe comes to whom the legal judgment belongs, and I will give it to Him.’

²⁸“Now as for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their ^areproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it ¹to ^bconsume, that it may be like lightning— ²⁹while they behold for you ^aworthless visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the ^btime of the iniquity of the end. ³⁰‘^aReturn it to its sheath. In the ^bplace where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹‘And I will ^apour out My indignation on you; I will ^bblow on you with the fire of My fury, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, ^ccraftsmen of destruction. ³²‘You will be ¹^,^afuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will ^bnot be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.’”

Instructions in Doctrine and Living

1Paul, ^aan apostle of ^bChrist Jesus ^caccording to the commandment of ^dGod our Savior, and of ^eChrist Jesus, our ^fhope,

²To ^aTimothy, ^bmy genuine child in the faith: ^cGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^dChrist Jesus our Lord.

³As I exhorted you when going to ^aMacedonia, ¹remain on at ^bEphesus so that you may command certain ones not to ^cteach a different doctrine, ⁴nor to ¹pay attention to ^amyths and endless ^bgenealogies, which give rise to mere ^cspeculation rather than furthering ^dthe stewardship from God which is by faith. ⁵But the goal of our ^acommand is love ^bfrom a pure heart and a ^cgood conscience and an unhypocritical ^dfaith. ⁶For some, straying from these things, have turned aside to ^afruitless discussion, ⁷^awanting to be ^bteachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸But we know that ^athe Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹knowing this, that ^alaw is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and ^brebellious, for the ^cungodly and sinners, for the unholy and ^dgodless, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰for ^asexually immoral persons, for ^bhomosexuals, for ^ckidnappers, for ^dliars, for ^eperjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^fsound teaching, ¹¹according to ^athe gospel of the glory of ^bthe blessed God, with which I have been ^centrusted.

¹²I am grateful to ^aChrist Jesus our Lord, who has ^bstrengthened me, because He regarded me faithful, ^cputting me into service, ¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a ^apersecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was ^bshown mercy because ^cI acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴and the ^agrace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the ^bfaith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵^aIt is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that ^bChrist Jesus came into the world to ^csave sinners, among whom ^dI am foremost. ¹⁶Yet for this reason I ^awas shown mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might ^bdemonstrate all His patience as an example for those ¹who are going to believe upon Him for eternal life. ¹⁷Now to the ^aKing of the ¹ages, ^bimmortal, ^cinvisible, the ^donly God, ^ebe honor and glory ²forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸This ^acommand I entrust to you, Timothy, ^bmy child, in accordance with the ^cprophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may ^dfight the good fight, ¹⁹keeping ^afaith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, suffered shipwreck in regard to ¹^,^btheir faith. ²⁰¹Among these are ^aHymenaeus and ^bAlexander, whom I have ^chanded over to Satan, so that they will be ^dtaught not to blaspheme.

Exhortation to Prayer

2First of all, then, I exhort that ^apetitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, ²^afor kings and all who are in ¹authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and ²dignity. ³This is good and acceptable in the sight of ^aGod our Savior, ⁴^awho desires all men to be ^bsaved and to ^ccome to the ¹full knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is ^aone God, and ^bone mediator also between God and men, the ^cman Christ Jesus, ⁶who ^agave Himself as a ransom for all, the ^bwitness for ¹^,^cthis proper time. ⁷^aFor this I was appointed a ¹preacher and ^ban apostle (^cI am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of ^dthe Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸Therefore ^aI want the men ^bin every place to pray, ^clifting up ^dholy hands, without wrath and dissension.

Instructions for Women

⁹Likewise, I want ^awomen to adorn themselves with proper clothing, with modesty and self-restraint, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women professing godliness. ¹¹^aA woman must learn in quietness, in all submission. ¹²^aBut I do not ¹allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. ¹³^aFor it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. ¹⁴And it was not Adam who was deceived, but ^athe woman being deceived, ¹fell into trespass. ¹⁵But she will be ¹saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in ^afaith and love and sanctification with self-restraint.

Praise Yahweh!

148¹Praise Yah!Praise Yahweh ^afrom the heavens;Praise Him ^bin the heights!²Praise Him, ^aall His angels;Praise Him, ^ball His hosts!³Praise Him, sun and moon;Praise Him, all stars of light!⁴Praise Him, ^aheavens of heavens,And the ^bwaters that are above the heavens!⁵Let them praise the name of Yahweh,For ^aHe commanded and they were created.⁶He caused them to ^astand forever and ever;He gave a ^bstatute and it will never pass away.⁷Praise Yahweh from the earth,^aSea monsters and all ^bdeeps;⁸^aFire and hail, ^bsnow and ^cclouds;^dStormy wind, ^edoing His word;⁹^aMountains and all hills;Fruit ^btrees and all cedars;¹⁰^aBeasts and all cattle;^bCreeping things and winged bird;¹¹^aKings of the earth and all peoples;Princes and all ¹judges of the earth;¹²Both choice men as well as virgins;The old with the young.¹³Let them praise the name of Yahweh,For His ^aname alone is set on high;His ^bsplendor is above earth and heaven.¹⁴And He has ^araised up a horn for His people,^bPraise for all His holy ones;For the sons of Israel, a people ^cnear to Him.¹Praise Yah!