Ezekiel 35; Ezekiel 36; 2 Peter 1

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, turn your attention to Mount Seir. Prophesy against it.

3 Tell it, 'The LORD and King says, "Mount Seir, I am against you. I will reach out my powerful hand against you. I will turn you into a dry and empty desert.

4 I will destroy your towns. Your land will become empty. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

5 " ' "People of Edom, you have been Israel's enemies for a long time. You let many Israelites be killed with swords when they were in great trouble. At that time I used Nebuchadnezzar to punish them and destroy them completely.

6 Now I will hand you over to murderers. They will hunt you down. You murdered others. So murderers will chase you. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

7 " ' "I will turn Mount Seir into a dry and empty desert. No one will be able to go anywhere or do anything there.

8 I will fill your mountains with dead bodies. Some of those who are killed with swords will fall down dead on your hills. Others will die in your valleys and in all of your canyons.

9 I will make your land empty forever. No one will live in your towns. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

10 " ' "You said, 'The nations of Israel and Judah will belong to us. We will take them over.' You said that, even though I was there. I am the Lord.

11 You were full of anger, jealousy and hatred toward my people. So I will punish you. When I judge you, they will know that I am the Lord. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

12 " ' "You will know that I have heard all of the terrible things you said about those who live in the mountains of Israel. You made fun of them. You said, 'They have been destroyed. They've been handed over to us. Let's wipe them out.'

13 You bragged that you were better than I am. You spoke against me. You did not hold anything back. But I heard it." ' "

14 The LORD and King says, "The whole earth will be glad. But I will make your land empty.

15 You were happy when the land of Israel became empty. So I will treat you in the same way. Mount Seir, you will be empty. So will the whole land of Edom. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

1 "Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Tell them, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the LORD's message.

2 The LORD and King says, "Your enemies made fun of you. They bragged, 'The hills you lived in for a long time belong to us now.' " '

3 "Ezekiel, prophesy. Say, 'The LORD and King says, "Your enemies destroyed you. They hunted you down from every side. So the rest of the nations took over your land. People talked about you. They told lies about you." ' "

4 Mountains of Israel, listen to the message of the LORD and King. He speaks to you mountains, hills, canyons and valleys. He speaks to you destroyed cities and deserted towns. The rest of the nations around you took everything of value away from you. They made fun of you.

5 So the LORD and King says, "My anger burns against those nations. I have spoken against them and the whole land of Edom. They were very happy when they took over my land. Deep down inside them they hated Israel. They wanted to take its grasslands.

6 "Ezekiel, prophesy about the land of Israel. Speak to the mountains, hills, canyons and valleys. Tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "My jealous anger burns against the nations. They have laughed at you."

7 So the LORD and King says, "I raise my hand and take an oath. I promise that the nations around you will also be laughed at.

8 " ' "Mountains of Israel, you will produce branches and bear fruit for my people Israel. They will come home soon.

9 I am concerned about you. I will look on you with favor. Farmers will plow your ground. They will plant seeds in it.

10 " ' "I will multiply the number of people who live in Israel. The towns will no longer be empty. Their broken-down houses will be rebuilt.

11 I will increase the number of your people and animals. They will have many babies. I will settle people in your towns, just as I did in the past. I will help you succeed more than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

12 " ' "I will let my people Israel walk there again. They will possess you. They will receive you as their own. You will never take their children away from them again." ' "

13 The LORD and King says, "People say to you mountains, 'You destroy people. You let your nation's children be taken away.'

14 But I will not let you destroy people anymore. I will no longer let your nation's children be taken away," announces the LORD and King.

15 "You will not have to listen to the nations laughing at you anymore. People will no longer make fun of you. You will not let your nation fall," announces the LORD and King.

16 Another message came to me from the Lord. He said,

17 "Son of man, the people of Israel used to live in their own land. But they polluted it because of how they acted and the way they lived. To me they were 'unclean' like a woman who was having her monthly period.

18 "They spilled people's blood in the land. They polluted the land by worshiping other gods. So I poured out my burning anger on them.

19 I scattered them among the nations. I sent them to other countries. I judged them based on how they acted and the way they lived.

20 "They treated my name as if it were not holy. They did it everywhere they went among the nations. People said about them, 'They are the LORD's people. But they were forced to leave his land.'

21 I was concerned about my holy name. The people of Israel treated it as if it were not holy. They did it everywhere they went among the nations.

22 "But tell the people of Israel, 'The LORD and King speaks. He says, "People of Israel, I will not take action for your benefit. Instead, I will act for the honor of my holy name. You have treated it as if it were not holy. You did it everywhere you went among the nations.

23 But I will show everyone how holy my great name is. You have treated it as if it were not holy. So I will use you to show the nations how holy I am. Then they will know that I am the Lord," announces the LORD and King.

24 " ' "I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you together from all of the countries. I will bring you back into your own land.

25 " ' "I will sprinkle pure water on you. Then you will be 'clean.' I will make you completely pure and clean. I will take all of the statues of your gods away from you.

26 I will give you new hearts. I will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me. I will remove your stubborn hearts from you. I will give you hearts that obey me.

27 " ' "I will put my Spirit in you. I will move you to follow my rules. I want you to be careful to keep my laws.

28 You will live in the land I gave your people long ago. You will be my people. And I will be your God.

29 " ' "I will save you from all of your 'uncleanness.' I will give you plenty of grain. You will have more than enough. So you will never be hungry again.

30 I will multiply the fruit on your trees. I will increase the crops in your fields. Then the nations will no longer make fun of you because you are hungry.

31 " ' "You will remember your evil ways and the sinful things you have done. You will hate yourselves because you have sinned so much. I also hate your evil practices.

32 I want you to know that I am not doing those things for your benefit," announces the LORD and King. "People of Israel, you should be ashamed of yourselves! Your conduct has brought dishonor to you." ' "

33 The LORD and King says, "I will make you pure from all of your sins. On that day I will settle you in your towns again. Your broken-down houses will be rebuilt.

34 The dry and empty land will be farmed again. "Everyone who passes through it will see that it is no longer empty.

35 They will say, 'This land was completely destroyed. But now it's like the Garden of Eden. The cities were full of broken-down buildings. They were destroyed and empty. But now they have high walls around them. And people live in them.'

36 "Then the nations that remain around you will know that I have rebuilt what was once destroyed. I have planted again the fields that were once empty. I have spoken. And I will do it. I am the Lord."

37 The LORD and King says, "Once again I will answer the prayers of the people of Israel. Here is what I will do for them. I will multiply them as if they were sheep.

38 Large flocks of animals are sacrificed at Jerusalem during the appointed feasts there. In the same way, the destroyed cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 I, Simon Peter, am writing this letter. I serve Jesus Christ. I am his apostle. I am sending this letter to you who have received a faith as valuable as ours. You received it because our God and Savior Jesus Christ does what is right and fair for everyone.

2 May more and more grace and peace be given to you. May they come to you as you learn more about God and about Jesus our Lord.

3 God's power has given us everything we need to lead a godly life. All of that has come to us because we know the One who chose us. He chose us because of his own glory and goodness.

4 He has also given us his very great and valuable promises. He did it so you could share in his nature. He also did it so you could escape from the evil in the world. That evil is caused by sinful longings.

5 So you should try very hard to add goodness to your faith. To goodness, add knowledge.

6 To knowledge, add the ability to control yourselves. To the ability to control yourselves, add the strength to keep going. To the strength to keep going, add godliness.

7 To godliness, add kindness to believers. And to kindness to believers, add love.

8 You should possess more and more of those good points. They will make you useful and fruitful as you get to know our Lord Jesus Christ better.

9 But what if some of you do not have those good points? Then you can't see very well. You are blind. You have forgotten that your past sins have been washed away.

10 My brothers and sisters, be very sure that God has appointed you to be saved. Be sure that he has chosen you. If you do everything I have just said, you will never trip and fall.

11 You will receive a rich welcome into the kingdom that lasts forever. It is the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12 So I will always remind you of these things. I'll do it even though you know them. I'll do it even though you now have deep roots in the truth.

13 I think it is right for me to remind you. It is right as long as I live in this tent. I'm talking about my body.

14 I know my tent will soon be removed. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made that clear to me.

15 I hope that you will always be able to remember these things after I'm gone. I will try very hard to see that you do.

16 We told you about the time our Lord Jesus Christ came with power. But we didn't make up stories when we told you about it. With our own eyes we saw him in all his majesty.

17 God the Father gave him honor and glory. The voice of the Majestic Glory came to him. It said, "This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him."(Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35)

18 We ourselves heard the voice that came from heaven. We were with him on the sacred mountain.

19 The word of the prophets is made more certain. We have that word. You must pay attention to it. It is like a light shining in a dark place. It will shine until the day Jesus comes. Then the Morning Star will rise in your hearts.

20 Above all, here is what you must understand. No prophecy in Scripture ever came from a prophet's own understanding.

21 It never came simply because a prophet wanted it to. Instead, the Holy Spirit guided the prophets as they spoke. So prophecy comes from God.