Ezekiel 27; Ezekiel 28; Ezekiel 29; 1 Peter 3

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Ezekiel 27

1 The Lord said to me,
2 "Mortal man, sing a funeral song for Tyre,
3 that city which stands at the edge of the sea and does business with the people living on every seacoast. Tell her what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "Tyre, you boasted of your perfect beauty.
4 Your home is the sea. Your builders made you like a beautiful ship;
5 They used fir trees from Mount Hermon for timber And a cedar from Lebanon for your mast.
6 They took oak trees from Bashan to make oars; They made your deck out of pine from Cyprus And inlaid it with ivory.
7 Your sails were made of linen, Embroidered linen from Egypt, Easily recognized from afar. Your awnings were made of finest cloth, Of purple from the island of Cyprus.
8 Your oarsmen were from the cities of Sidon and Arvad. Your own skillful men were the sailors.
9 The ship's carpenters Were well-trained men from Byblos. Sailors from every seagoing ship Did business in your shops.
10 "Soldiers from Persia, Lydia, and Libya served in your army. They hung their shields and their helmets in your barracks. They are the men who won glory for you.
11 Soldiers from Arvad guarded your walls, and troops from Gamad guarded your towers. They hung their shields on your walls. They are the ones who made you beautiful.
12 "You did business in Spain and took silver, iron, tin, and lead in payment for your abundant goods.
13 You did business in Greece, Tubal, and Meshech and traded your goods for slaves and for articles of bronze.
14 You sold your goods for workhorses, war-horses, and mules from Beth Togarmah.
15 The people of Rhodes traded with you; people of many coastal lands gave you ivory and ebony in exchange for your goods.
16 The people of Syria bought your merchandise and your many products. They gave emeralds, purple cloth, embroidery, fine linen, coral, and rubies in payment for your wares.
17 Judah and Israel paid for your goods with wheat, honey, olive oil, and spices.
18 The people of Damascus bought your merchandise and your products, paying for them with wine from Helbon and wool from Sahar. They traded wrought iron and spices for your goods.
20 The people of Dedan traded saddle blankets for your goods.
21 The Arabians and the rulers of the land of Kedar paid for your merchandise with lambs, sheep, and goats.
22 For your goods the merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded jewels, gold, and the finest spices.
23 The cities of Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, the cities of Asshur and Chilmad - they all traded with you.
24 They sold you luxurious clothing, purple cloth, and embroidery, brightly colored carpets, and well-made cords and ropes.
25 Your merchandise was carried in fleets of the largest cargo ships. "You were like a ship at sea Loaded with heavy cargo.
26 When your oarsmen brought you out to sea, An east wind wrecked you far from land.
27 All your wealth of merchandise, All the sailors in your crew, Your ship's carpenters and your merchants, Every soldier on board the ship - All, all were lost at sea When your ship was wrecked.
28 The shouts of the drowning sailors Echoed on the shore.
29 "Every ship is now deserted, And every sailor has gone ashore.
30 They all mourn bitterly for you, Throwing dust on their heads and rolling in ashes.
31 They shave their heads for you And dress themselves in sackcloth. Their hearts are bitter as they weep.
32 They chant a funeral song for you: "Who can be compared to Tyre, To Tyre now silent in the sea?
33 When your merchandise went overseas, You filled the needs of every nation. Kings were made rich By the wealth of your goods.
34 Now you are wrecked in the sea; You have sunk to the ocean depths. Your goods and all who worked for you Have vanished with you in the sea.'
35 "Everyone who lives along the coast is shocked at your fate. Even their kings are terrified, and fear is written on their faces.
36 You are gone, gone forever, and merchants all over the world are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Ezekiel 28

1 The Lord spoke to me.
2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine.
3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you.
4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver.
5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth!
6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god,
7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom.
8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave.
9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine.
10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command."
11 The Lord spoke to me again.
12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were!
13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created.
14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems.
15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil.
16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems.
17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings.
18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes.
19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."
20 The Lord said to me,
21 "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon.
22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you.
23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord."
24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."
25 The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob.
26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Ezekiel 29

1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.
2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the king of Egypt. Tell him how he and all the land of Egypt will be punished.
3 Say that this is what the Sovereign Lord is telling the king of Egypt: I am your enemy, you monster crocodile, lying in the river. You say that the Nile is yours and that you made it.
4 I am going to put a hook through your jaw and make the fish in your river stick fast to you. Then I will pull you up out of the Nile, with all the fish sticking to you.
5 I will throw you and all those fish into the desert. Your body will fall on the ground and be left unburied. I will give it to the birds and animals for food.
6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord." The Lord says, "The Israelites relied on you Egyptians for support, but you were no better than a weak stick.
7 When they leaned on you, you broke, pierced their armpits, and made them wrench their backs.
8 Now then, I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I will have troops attack you with swords, and they will kill your people and your animals.
9 Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then you will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said that the Nile is yours and you made it,
10 I am your enemy and the enemy of your Nile. I will make all of Egypt an empty wasteland, from the city of Migdol in the north to the city of Aswan in the south, all the way to the Ethiopian border.
11 No human being or animal will walk through it. For forty years nothing will live there.
12 I will make Egypt the most desolate country in the world. For forty years the cities of Egypt will lie in ruins, ruins worse than those of any other city. I will make the Egyptians refugees. They will flee to every country and live among other peoples."
13 The Sovereign Lord says, "After forty years I will bring the Egyptians back from the nations where I have scattered them,
14 and I will let them live in southern Egypt, their original home. There they will be a weak kingdom,
15 the weakest kingdom of all, and they will never again rule other nations. I will make them so unimportant that they will not be able to bend any other nation to their will.
16 Israel will never again depend on them for help. Egypt's fate will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."
17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.
18 "Mortal man," he said, "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia launched an attack on Tyre. He made his soldiers carry such heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald and their shoulders were worn raw, but neither the king nor his army got anything for all their trouble.
19 So now this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: I am giving the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar. He will loot and plunder it and carry off all the wealth of Egypt as his army's pay.
20 I am giving him Egypt in payment for his services, because his army was working for me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.
21 "When that happens, I will make the people of Israel strong and let you, Ezekiel, speak out where everyone can hear you, so that they will know that I am the Lord."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

1 Peter 3

1 In the same way you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. It will not be necessary for you to say a word,
2 because they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is.
3 You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear.
4 Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight.
5 For the devout women of the past who placed their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by submitting themselves to their husbands.
6 Sarah was like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are now her daughters if you do good and are not afraid of anything.
7 In the same way you husbands must live with your wives with the proper understanding that they are more delicate than you. Treat them with respect, because they also will receive, together with you, God's gift of life. Do this so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.
8 To conclude: you must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another, and be kind and humble with one another.
9 Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you.
10 As the scripture says, "If you want to enjoy life and wish to see good times, you must keep from speaking evil and stop telling lies.
11 You must turn away from evil and do good; you must strive for peace with all your heart.
12 For the Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their prayers; but he opposes those who do evil."
13 Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, how happy you are! Do not be afraid of anyone, and do not worry.
15 But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you,
16 but do it with gentleness and respect. Keep your conscience clear, so that when you are insulted, those who speak evil of your good conduct as followers of Christ will become ashamed of what they say.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if this should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually,
19 and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits.
20 These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat - eight in all - were saved by the water,
21 which was a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone to heaven and is at the right side of God, ruling over all angels and heavenly authorities and powers.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.