Ezekiel 3; Ezekiel 4; Hebrews 11:20-40

Ezekiel 3

1 God said, "Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel."

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 He said, "Mortal man, eat this scroll that I give you; fill your stomach with it." I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.

4 Then God said, "Mortal man, go to the people of Israel and say to them whatever I tell you to say.

5 I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language, but to the Israelites.

6 If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn't understand, they would listen to you.

7 But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

8 Now I will make you as stubborn and as tough as they are.

9 I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels."

10 God continued, "Mortal man, pay close attention and remember everything I tell you.

11 Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not."

12 Then God's spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the loud roar of a voice that said, "Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven above!"

13 I heard the wings of the creatures beating together in the air, and the noise of the wheels, as loud as an earthquake.

14 The power of the Lord came on me with great force, and as his spirit carried me off, I felt bitter and angry.

15 So I came to Tel Abib beside the Chebar River, where the exiles were living, and for seven days I stayed there, overcome by what I had seen and heard.

16 After the seven days had passed, the Lord spoke to me.

17 "Mortal man," he said, "I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You will pass on to them the warnings I give you.

18 If I announce that someone evil is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, he will die, still a sinner, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

19 If you do warn an evil man and he doesn't stop sinning, he will die, still a sinner, but your life will be spared.

20 "If someone truly good starts doing evil and I put him in a dangerous situation, he will die if you do not warn him. He will die because of his sins - I will not remember the good he did - and I will hold you responsible for his death.

21 If you do warn a good man not to sin and he listens to you and doesn't sin, he will stay alive, and your life will also be spared."

22 I felt the powerful presence of the Lord and heard him say to me, "Get up and go out into the valley. I will talk to you there."

23 So I went out into the valley, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen it beside the Chebar River. I fell face downward on the ground,

24 but God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet. The Lord said to me, "Go home and shut yourself up in the house.

25 You will be tied with ropes, mortal man, and you will not be able to go out in public.

26 I will paralyze your tongue so that you won't be able to warn these rebellious people.

27 Then, when I speak to you again and give you back the power of speech, you will tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. Some of them will listen, but some will ignore you, for they are a nation of rebels."

Ezekiel 4

1 God said, "Mortal man, get a brick, put it in front of you, and scratch lines on it to represent the city of Jerusalem.

2 Then, to represent a siege, put trenches, earthworks, camps, and battering rams all around it.

3 Take an iron pan and set it up like a wall between you and the city. Face the city. It is under siege, and you are the one besieging it. This will be a sign to the nation of Israel.

4 "Then lie down on your left side, and I will place on you the guilt of the nation of Israel. For 390 days you will stay there and suffer because of their guilt. I have sentenced you to one day for each year their punishment will last.

6 When you finish that, turn over on your right side and suffer for the guilt of Judah for forty days - one day for each year of their punishment.

7 "Fix your eyes on the siege of Jerusalem. Shake your fist at the city and prophesy against it.

8 I will tie you up so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until the siege is over.

9 "Now take some wheat, barley, beans, peas, millet, and spelt. Mix them all together and make bread. That is what you are to eat during the 390 days you are lying on your left side.

10 You will be allowed eight ounces of bread a day, and it will have to last until the next day.

11 You will also have a limited amount of water to drink, two cups a day.

12 You are to build a fire out of dried human excrement, bake bread on the fire, and eat it where everyone can see you."

13 The Lord said, "This represents the way the Israelites will have to eat food which the Law forbids, when I scatter them to foreign countries."

14 But I replied, "No, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From childhood on I have never eaten meat from any animal that died a natural death or was killed by wild animals. I have never eaten any food considered unclean."

15 So God said, "Very well. I will let you use cow dung instead, and you can bake your bread on that."

16 And he added, "Mortal man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread for Jerusalem. The people there will be distressed and anxious as they measure out the food they eat and the water they drink.

17 They will run out of bread and water; they will be in despair, and they will waste away because of their sins."

Hebrews 11:20-40

20 It was faith that made Isaac promise blessings for the future to Jacob and Esau.

21 It was faith that made Jacob bless each of the sons of Joseph just before he died. He leaned on the top of his walking stick and worshiped God.

22 It was faith that made Joseph, when he was about to die, speak of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and leave instructions about what should be done with his body.

23 It was faith that made the parents of Moses hide him for three months after he was born. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's order.

24 It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king's daughter.

25 He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while.

26 He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward.

27 It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back.

28 It was faith that made him establish the Passover and order the blood to be sprinkled on the doors, so that the Angel of Death would not kill the first-born sons of the Israelites.

29 It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red Sea as if on dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up.

30 It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days.

31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.

32 Should I go on? There isn't enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.

33 Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions,

34 put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners.

35 Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life.

36 Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison.

37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated.

38 The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.

39 What a record all of these have won by their faith! Yet they did not receive what God had promised,

40 because God had decided on an even better plan for us. His purpose was that only in company with us would they be made perfect.