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42 When I have spent my fury upon you I will stop being jealous about you, and calm down, no longer angry. 43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, see, I am bringing down your ways upon your head—oracle of the Lord God. Have you not added depravity to your other abominations?
44 See, everyone who makes proverbs will make this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 Yes, you are truly the daughter of your mother[a] who rejected her husband and children: you are truly a sister to your sisters who rejected their husbands and children—your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.(A) 46 [b]Your elder sister was Samaria with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister was Sodom and her daughters, south of you.(B) 47 Not only did you walk in their ways and act as abominably as they did, but in a very short time you became more corrupt in all your ways than they were.(C) 48 As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear that your sister Sodom with her daughters have not done the things you and your daughters have done!(D) 49 (E)Now look at the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were proud, sated with food, complacent in prosperity. They did not give any help to the poor and needy. 50 Instead, they became arrogant and committed abominations before me; then, as you have seen, I removed them.(F) 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more abominable things than they did. You even made your sisters look righteous, with all the abominations you have done. 52 You, then, must bear your disgrace, for you have made a case for your sisters! Because your sins are more abominable than theirs, they seem righteous compared to you. Blush for shame, and bear the disgrace of having made your sisters appear righteous.
53 I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters—and your fortunes along with them. 54 Thus you must bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done to bring them comfort. 55 Yes, your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, shall return to the way they were,(G) and you and your daughters shall return to the way you were. 56 Did you not hold your sister Sodom in bad repute while you felt proud of yourself, 57 before your evil was exposed? Now you are like her, reproached by the Arameans and all their neighbors, despised on all sides by the Philistines.(H) 58 The penalty of your depravity and your abominations—you must bear it all—oracle of the Lord.
59 For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you for what you did; you despised an oath by breaking a covenant.(I) 60 But I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young; I will set up an everlasting covenant[c] with you.(J) 61 Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, those older and younger than you; I give them to you as daughters, but not by reason of your covenant. 62 For I will re-establish my covenant with you, that you may know that I am the Lord,(K) 63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I pardon you for all you have done—oracle of the Lord God.(L)
Chapter 17
The Eagles and the Vine. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, propose a riddle, and tell this proverb to the house of Israel: 3 Thus says the Lord God:
The great eagle, with wide wingspan
and long feathers, with thick plumage,
many-hued, came to Lebanon.
He plucked the crest of the cedar,(M)
4 broke off its topmost branch,
And brought it to a land of merchants,
set it in a city of traders.
5 Then he took some native seed
and planted it in fertile soil;
A shoot beside plentiful waters,
like a willow he planted it,(N)
6 That it might sprout and become a vine,
dense and low-lying,
With its branches turned toward him,
its roots beneath it.
Thus it became a vine, produced branches,
and put forth shoots.
7 Then another great eagle appeared,
with wide wingspan, rich in plumage,
And see! This vine bent its roots to him,
sent out branches for him to water.
From the bed where it was planted,(O)
8 it was transplanted to a fertile field
By abundant waters, to produce branches,
to bear fruit, to become a majestic vine.
9 Say: Thus says the Lord God: Can it thrive?
Will he not tear up its roots
and strip its fruit?
Then all its green leaves will wither—
neither strong arm nor mighty nation
is needed to uproot it.
10 True, it is planted; but will it thrive?
Will it not wither up
When the east wind strikes it,
wither in the very bed where it sprouted?(P)
11 [d]The word of the Lord came to me:
12 Now say to the rebellious house:
Do you not understand this? Tell them!
The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem
and took away its king and officials
and brought them to him in Babylon.(Q)
13 After removing the nobles from the land,
he then took one of the royal line
And made a covenant with him,
binding him under oath,(R)
14 To be a humble kingdom,
without high aspirations,
to keep his covenant and so survive.
15 But this one rebelled against him
by sending envoys to Egypt
To obtain horses and a mighty army.
Can he thrive?
Can he escape if he does this?
Can he break a covenant and go free?(S)
16 As I live—oracle of the Lord God—
in the house of the king who set him up to rule,
Whose oath he ignored and whose covenant he broke,
there in Babylon I swear he shall die!(T)
17 Pharaoh shall not help him on the day of battle,
with a great force and mighty horde,
When ramps are thrown up and siege works built
for the cutting down of many lives.
18 He ignored his oath, breaking his covenant;
even though he gave his hand, he did all these things—
he shall not escape!(U)
19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
As I live, my oath which he spurned,
And my covenant which he broke,
I will bring down on his head.
20 I will spread my net over him,
and he will be caught in my snare.
I will bring him to Babylon
to judge him there
because he broke faith with me.(V)
21 Any among his forces who escape
will fall by the sword,
And whoever might survive
will be scattered to the winds.(W)
Thus you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
22 Thus says the Lord God:
I, too, will pluck from the crest of the cedar
the highest branch.
From the top a tender shoot
I will break off and transplant[e]
on a high, lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Every small bird will nest under it,
all kinds of winged birds will dwell
in the shade of its branches.(X)
24 Every tree of the field will know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
Wither up the green tree,
and make the dry tree bloom.(Y)
As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do!
Chapter 8
Heavenly Priesthood of Jesus.[a] 1 The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,(A) 2 a minister of the sanctuary[b] and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.(B) 3 Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer.(C) 4 If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are those who offer gifts according to the law.(D) 5 They worship in a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”(E) 6 Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.(F)
Old and New Covenants.[c] 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one. 8 But he finds fault with them and says:[d]
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,(G)
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
10 But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.(H)
11 And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen
and kinsman, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for all shall know me,
from least to greatest.
12 For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.”
13 [e](I)When he speaks of a “new” covenant, he declares the first one obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.
II
13 But they soon forgot all he had done;
they had no patience for his plan.
14 In the desert they gave in to their cravings,
tempted God in the wasteland.(A)
15 So he gave them what they asked
and sent a wasting disease against them.(B)
III
16 In the camp they challenged Moses(C)
and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
it closed on the followers of Abiram.
18 Against their company the fire blazed;
flames consumed the wicked.
IV
19 At Horeb they fashioned a calf,(D)
worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glory[a]
for the image of a grass-eating bull.
21 They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,(E)
22 Amazing deeds in the land of Ham,
fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.
23 He would have decreed their destruction,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach[b]
to turn back his destroying anger.(F)
V
24 Next they despised the beautiful land;(G)
they did not believe the promise.
25 In their tents they complained;
they did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 So with raised hand he swore
he would destroy them in the desert,
27 And scatter their descendants among the nations,
disperse them in foreign lands.
VI
28 They joined in the rites of Baal of Peor,(H)
ate food sacrificed to the dead.
29 They provoked him by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas rose to intervene,
and the plague was brought to a halt.
31 This was counted for him as a righteous deed
for all generations to come.
7 One who is full spurns honey;
but to the hungry, any bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird far from the nest
so is anyone far from home.[a]
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
but by grief the soul is torn asunder.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.