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Judah’s Captivity Portrayed
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear,(A) 3 for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.(B) 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into exile.(C) 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.(D)
7 I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.
8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?”(E) 10 Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem[a] and all the house of Israel in it.”[b](F) 11 Say, “I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.”(G) 12 And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he[c] shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes.(H) 13 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.(I) 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.(J) 15 And they shall know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.(K) 16 But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I am the Lord.(L)
Judgment Not Postponed
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 Mortal, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; 19 and say to the people of the land: “Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it.(M) 20 The inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”(N)
21 The word of the Lord came to me: 22 Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel that says, “The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing”?(O) 23 Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them: “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.(P) 24 For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.(Q) 25 But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says the Lord God.”(R)
26 The word of the Lord came to me: 27 Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.”(S) 28 Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.”(T)
False Prophets Condemned
13 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!”(U) 3 Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!(V) 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.(W) 6 They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!(X) 7 Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.(Y) 10 Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets[d] smear whitewash on it.(Z) 11 Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain,[e] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out.(AA) 12 When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. 14 I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.(AB) 15 Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it— 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”(AC)
17 As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them(AD) 18 and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives?(AE) 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.(AF)
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives;[f] I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives,(AG) 23 therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(AH)
God’s Judgments Justified
14 Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.(AI) 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them; shall I let myself be consulted by them?(AJ) 4 Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord will answer those who come with the multitude of their idols, 5 in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.(AK)
6 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.(AL) 7 For any of those of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside in Israel who separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to a prophet to inquire of me by him, I the Lord will answer them myself.(AM) 8 I will set my face against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and cut them off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.(AN)
9 If a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.(AO) 10 And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same— 11 so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.(AP)
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
7 This “Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him,”(A) 2 and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next, he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.(B)
4 See how great he is! Even[a] Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils.(C) 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes[b] from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham.(D) 6 But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes[c] from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises.(E) 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.(F) 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Another Priest, Like Melchizedek
11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron?(G) 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 Now the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.(H)
15 It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, 16 one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent but through the power of an indestructible life.(I) 17 For it is attested of him,
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”(J)
37 Then he brought Israel[a] out with silver and gold,
and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.(A)
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.(B)
39 He spread a cloud for a covering
and fire to give light by night.(C)
40 They asked, and he brought quails
and gave them food from heaven in abundance.(D)
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.(E)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
and Abraham, his servant.(F)
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.