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

Ezekiel 3

1 Then he said to me: Human one, eat this thing that you've found. Eat this scroll and go, speak to the house of Israel.

2 So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

3 He said to me: Human one, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate it, and in my mouth it became as sweet as honey.

4 Then he said to me: Human one, go! Go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

5 You aren't being sent to a people whose language and speech are difficult and obscure but to the house of Israel.

6 No, not to many peoples who speak difficult and obscure languages, whose words you wouldn't understand. If I did send you to them, they would listen to you.

7 But the house of Israel—they will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to me. The whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hard-hearted too.

8 I've now hardened your face so that you can meet them head-on.

9 I've made your forehead like a diamond, harder than stone. Don't be afraid of them or shrink away from them, because they are a household of rebels.

10 He said to me: Human one, listen closely, and take to heart every word I say to you.

11 Then go to the exiles, to your people's children. Whether they listen or not, speak to them and say: The LORD God proclaims!

12 Then a wind lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great quaking sound from his place. Blessed is the LORD's glory!

13 The sound was the creatures' wings beating against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them; it was a great rumbling noise.

14 Then the wind picked me up and took me away. With the LORD's power pressing down against me I went away, bitter and deeply angry,

15 and I came to the exiles who lived beside the Chebar River at Tel-abib. I stayed there among them for seven desolate days.

16 At the end of the seven days, the LORD's word came to me:

17 Human one, I've made you a lookout for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from me, deliver my warning.

18 If I declare that the wicked will die but you don't warn them, if you say nothing to warn them from their wicked ways so that they might live, they will die because of their guilt, but I will hold you accountable for their deaths.

19 If you do warn the wicked and they don't turn from their wickedness or their wicked ways, they will die because of their guilt, but you will save your life.

20 Or suppose righteous people turn away from doing the right thing. If they act dishonestly, and I make them stumble because of it, they will die because you didn't warn them of their sin. Their righteous deeds won't be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their deaths.

21 But if you do warn the righteous not to sin, and they don't sin, they will be declared righteous. Their lives will be preserved because they heeded the warning, and you will save your life.

22 The LORD's power overcame me, and he said to me: Get up! Go out to the valley, and I'll speak to you there.

23 So I got up and went out to the valley. Suddenly, the LORD's glory stood there, like the glory that I had seen at the Chebar River, and I fell on my face.

24 When a wind came to me and stood me on my feet, he spoke to me and said: Go, shut yourself up inside your house.

25 Look at you, human one! They've now put cords on you and bound you up so that you can't go out among them.

26 I'll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth and take away your ability to speak. You won't be able to correct them, because they are a household of rebels.

27 But whenever I speak to you, I'll open your mouth, and you will say to them: The LORD God proclaims. Those who hear will understand, but those who refuse will not. They are just a household of rebels.

Ezekiel 4

1 You, human one, take a brick. Put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 Prepare the siege: Build a wall, construct ramps, set up army camps, and place battering rams all around.

3 Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Face it directly. When it is under siege like this, press hard against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

4 Now, lie on your left side, and set the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For the length of time that you lie on your side, you will bear their punishment.

5 I appoint to you three hundred ninety days, one day for each year of their guilt. So you will bear the punishment of the house of Israel.

6 When you have completed these days, lie on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah. I appoint forty days to you, one day for each year.

7 With your arm stretched out, face the siege of Jerusalem directly and prophesy against it.

8 I've now bound you with cords so that you can't turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

9 You, gather some wheat and barley, beans and lentils, and millet and spelt. Put them in a bowl and make your bread from them. Eat it during the three hundred ninety days that you lie on your side.

10 At fixed times you will eat your food by weight, fourteen ounces a day.

11 You will also ration your water by measure, drinking a sixth of a hin at fixed times each day.

12 Eat it like barley bread, and bake it on human excrement while they watch.

13 The LORD says: In this same way the Israelites will eat their unclean bread among the nations where I am scattering them.

14 And I said: "Ah, LORD God! I've never been unclean! From my childhood until now I've never eaten anything that wasn't properly slaughtered, and no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth!"

15 He answered me: "Then I'll let you use cow dung instead of human excrement. You can make your bread over that."

16 Then he said to me: Human one, I'm destroying the food supply in Jerusalem. They will anxiously ration and eat their food, and in dismay they will dole out and drink their water.

17 When their food and water dwindles away, everyone will be horrified, and they will waste away because of their guilt.

Hebrews 11:20-40

20 By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau concerning their future.

21 By faith Jacob blessed each of Joseph's sons as he was dying and bowed in worship over the head of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph recalled the exodus of the Israelites at the end of his life, and gave instructions about burying his bones.

23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months when he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they weren't afraid of the king's orders.

24 By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter when he was grown up.

25 He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin.

26 He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward.

27 By faith he left Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. He kept on going as if he could see what is invisible.

28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the destroyer could not touch their firstborn children.

29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned.

30 By faith Jericho's walls fell after the people marched around them for seven days.

31 By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn't killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace.

32 What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.

33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions,

34 put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured and refused to be released so they could gain a better resurrection.

36 But others experienced public shame by being taunted and whipped; they were even put in chains and in prison.

37 They were stoned to death, they were cut in two, and they died by being murdered with swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats, needy, oppressed, and mistreated.

38 The world didn't deserve them. They wandered around in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground.

39 All these people didn't receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith.

40 God provided something better for us so they wouldn't be made perfect without us.