Ezekiel 22; Ezekiel 23; 1 Peter 1

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Ezekiel 22

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "And you, human, will you judge? Will you judge the city of murderers? Then tell her about all her hateful acts.

3 You are to say: 'This is what the Lord God says: You are a city that kills those who come to live there. You make yourself unclean by making idols.

4 You have become guilty of murder and have become unclean by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your time of punishment near; you have come to the end of your years. That is why I have made you a shame to the nations and why all lands laugh at you.

5 Those near and those far away laugh at you with your bad name, you city full of confusion.

6 "'Jerusalem, see how each ruler of Israel in you has been trying to kill people.

7 The people in you hate their fathers and mothers. They mistreat the foreigners in you and wrong the orphans and widows in you.

8 You hate my holy things and dishonor my Sabbaths.

9 The men in you tell lies to cause the death of others. The people in you eat food offered to idols at the mountain places of worship, and they take part in sexual sins.

10 The men in you have sexual relations with their fathers' wives and with women who are unclean, during their time of monthly bleeding.

11 One man in you does a hateful act with his neighbor's wife, while another has shamefully made his daughter-in-law unclean sexually. And another forces his half sister to have sexual relations with him.

12 The people in you take money to kill others. You take unfair interest and profits and make profits by mistreating your neighbor. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.

13 "'So, Jerusalem, I will shake my fist at you for stealing money and for murdering people.

14 Will you still be brave and strong when I punish you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act.

15 I will scatter you among the nations and spread you through the countries. That is how I will get rid of your uncleanness.

16 But you, yourself, will be dishonored in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

17 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

18 "Human, the people of Israel have become useless like scum to me. They are like the copper, tin, iron, and lead left in the furnace when silver is purified.

19 So this is what the Lord God says: 'Because you have become useless like scum, I am going to put you together inside Jerusalem.

20 People put silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin together inside a furnace to melt them down in a blazing fire. In the same way I will gather you in my hot anger and put you together in Jerusalem and melt you down.

21 I will put you together and make you feel the heat of my anger. You will be melted down inside Jerusalem.

22 As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.'"

23 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

24 "Human, say to the land, 'You are a land that has not had rain or showers when God is angry.'

25 Like a roaring lion that tears the animal it has caught, Israel's rulers make evil plans. They have destroyed lives and have taken treasure and valuable things. They have caused many women to become widows.

26 Israel's priests do cruel things to my teachings and do not honor my holy things. They make no difference between holy and unholy things, and they teach there is no difference between clean and unclean things. They do not remember my Sabbaths, so I am dishonored by them.

27 Like wolves tearing a dead animal, Jerusalem's leaders have killed people for profit.

28 And the prophets try to cover this up by false visions and by lying messages. They say, 'This is what the Lord God says' when the Lord has not spoken.

29 The people cheat others and steal. They hurt people who are poor and needy. They cheat foreigners and do not treat them fairly.

30 "I looked for someone to build up the walls and to stand before me where the walls are broken to defend these people so I would not have to destroy them. But I could not find anyone.

31 So I let them see my anger. I destroyed them with an anger that was like fire because of all the things they have done, says the Lord God."

Ezekiel 23

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

2 "Human, a woman had two daughters.

3 While they were young, they went to Egypt and became prostitutes. They let men touch and hold their breasts.

4 The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became my wives and had sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem

5 "While still my wife, Samaria had sexual relations with other men. She had great sexual desire for her lovers, men from Assyria. The Assyrians were warriors and

6 wore blue uniforms. They were all handsome young captains and lieutenants riding on horseback.

7 Samaria became a prostitute for all the important men in Assyria and made herself unclean with all the idols of everyone she desired.

8 She continued the prostitution she began in Egypt. When she was young, she had slept with men, and they touched her breasts and had sexual relations with her.

9 "So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, that she wanted so badly.

10 They stripped her naked and took away her sons and daughters. Then they killed her with a sword. Women everywhere began talking about how she had been punished.

11 "Her sister Jerusalem saw what happened, but she became worse than her sister in her sexual desire and prostitution.

12 She also desired the Assyrians, who were all soldiers in beautiful uniforms -- handsome young captains and lieutenants riding horses.

13 I saw that both girls were alike; both were prostitutes.

14 "But Jerusalem went even further. She saw carvings of Babylonian men on a wall. They wore re

15 and had belts around their waists and turbans on their heads. They all looked like chariot officers born in Babylonia.

16 When she saw them, she wanted to have sexual relations with them and sent messengers to them in Babylonia.

17 So these Babylonian men came and had sexual relations with her and made her unclean. After that, she became sick of them.

18 But she continued her prostitution so openly that everyone knew about it. And I finally became sick of her, as I had her sister.

19 But she remembered how she was a young prostitute in Egypt, so she took part in even more prostitution

20 She wanted men who behaved like animals in their sexual desire.

21 In the same way you desired to do the sinful things you had done in Egypt. There men touched and held your young breasts

22 "So, Jerusalem, this is what the Lord God says: You are tired of your lovers. So now I will make them angry with you and have them attack you from all sides.

23 Men from Babylon and all Babylonia and men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa will attack you. All the Assyrians will attack you: handsome young captains and lieutenants, all of them important men and all riding horses.

24 Those men will attack with great armies and with their weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will surround you with large and small shields and with helmets. And I will give them the right to punish you, and they will give you their own kind of punishment.

25 Then you will see how strong my anger can be when they punish you in their anger. They will cut off your noses and ears. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those who are left will be burned.

26 They will take off your clothes and steal your jewelry.

27 I will put a stop to the sinful life you began when you were in Egypt so that you will not desire it or remember Egypt anymore.

28 "This is what the Lord God says: You became tired of your lovers, but I am going to hand you over to those men you now hate.

29 They will treat you with hate and take away everything you worked for, leaving you empty and naked. Everyone will know about the sinful things you did. Your sexual sins

30 have brought this on you. You have had sexual relations with the nations and made yourselves unclean by worshiping their idols.

31 You did the same things your sister did, so you will get the same punishment, like a bitter cup to drink.

32 "This is what the Lord God says: You will drink the same cup your sister did, and that cup is deep and wide. Everyone will make fun of you, because the cup is full.

33 It will make you miserable and drunk. It is the cup of fear and ruin. It is the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 You will drink everything in it, and then you will smash it and tear at your breasts. I have spoken, says the Lord God.

35 "So this is what the Lord God says: You have forgotten me and turned your back on me. So you will be punished for your sexual sins."

36 The Lord said to me: "Human, will you judge Samaria and Jerusalem, showing them their hateful acts

37 They are guilty of adultery and murder. They have taken part in adultery with their idols. They even offered our children as sacrifices in the fire to be food for these idols.

38 They have also done this to me: They made my Temple unclean at the same time they dishonored my Sabbaths

39 They sacrificed their children to their idols. Then they entered my Temple at that very time to dishonor it. That is what they did inside my Temple!

40 "They even sent for men from far away, who came after a messenger was sent to them. The two sisters bathed themselves for them, painted their eyes, and put on jewelry.

41 They sat on a fine bed with a table set before it, on which they put my incense and my oil.

42 "There was the noise of a reckless crowd in the city. Common people gathered, and drunkards were brought from the desert. They put bracelets on the wrists of the two sisters and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 Then I said about the one who was worn out by her acts of adultery, 'Let them continue their sexual sins with her. She is nothing but a prostitute.'

44 They kept going to her as they would go to a prostitute. So they continued to go to Samaria and Jerusalem, these shameful women.

45 But men who do right will punish them as they punish women who take part in adultery and who murder people, because they are guilty of adultery and murder.

46 "This is what the Lord God says: Bring together a mob against Samaria and Jerusalem, and hand them over to be frightened and robbed.

47 Let the mob kill them by throwing stones at them, and let them cut them down with their swords. Let them kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses down.

48 "So I will put an end to sexual sins in the land. Then all women will be warned, and they will not do the sexual sins you have done.

49 You will be punished for your sexual sins and the sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord God."

1 Peter 1

1 From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. To God's chosen people who are away from their homes and are scattered all around the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

2 God planned long ago to choose you by making you his holy people, which is the Spirit's work. God wanted you to obey him and to be made clean by the blood of the death of Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be yours more and more.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God's great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

4 Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you.

5 God's power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.

6 This makes you very happy, even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad.

7 These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you.

8 You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.

9 And you are receiving the goal of your faith -- the salvation of your souls.

10 The prophets searched carefully and tried to learn about this salvation. They prophesied about the grace that was coming to you.

11 The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, telling in advance about the sufferings of Christ and about the glory that would follow those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them, when those things would happen, and what the world would be like at that time.

12 It was shown them that their service was not for themselves but for you, when they told about the truths you have now heard. Those who preached the Good News to you told you those things with the help of the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven -- things into which angels desire to look.

13 So prepare your minds for service and have self-control. All your hope should be for the gift of grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ is shown to you.

14 Now that you are obedient children of God do not live as you did in the past. You did not understand, so you did the evil things you wanted.

15 But be holy in all you do, just as God, the One who called you, is holy.

16 It is written in the Scriptures: "You must be holy, because I am holy."

17 You pray to God and call him Father, and he judges each person's work equally. So while you are here on earth, you should live with respect for God.

18 You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way, a way passed down from the people who lived before you. But you were saved from that useless life. You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb.

20 Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for your sake.

21 Through Christ you believe in God, who raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory. So your faith and your hope are in God.

22 Now that you have made your souls pure by obeying the truth, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 You have been born again, and this new life did not come from something that dies, but from something that cannot die. You were born again through God's living message that continues forever.

24 The Scripture says, "All people are like the grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass dies and the flowers fall,

25 but the word of the Lord will live forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Ezekiel 22; Ezekiel 23; 1 Peter 1

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