the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
December 15 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Ezekiel 21-22
Chapter 21
God's Sword of Judgment
1 [a]The word of the Lord came to me again: 2 "Son of man, turn your face toward(a) Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 and say to it: This is what the Lord says: I am against you.(b) I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you. 4 Since I will cut off[b] both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will therefore come out of its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.(c) 5 So all the people will know that I, Yahweh, have taken My sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again.(d)
6 "But you, son of man, groan! Groan bitterly with a broken heart[c] right before their eyes. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?' then say: Because of the news that is coming.(e) Every heart will melt, and every hand will become weak. Every spirit will be discouraged, and every knee will turn to water. Yes, it is coming and it will happen." This is the declaration of the Lord God .
8 The word of the Lord came to me: 9 "Son of man, prophesy: This is what the Lord says! You are to proclaim:
A sword!(f) A sword is sharpened
and also polished.(g)
10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
Should we rejoice?
The scepter of My son,
the sword despises every tree.[d]
11 The sword is given to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand.
It is sharpened, and it is polished,
to be put in the hand of the slayer.(h)
12 Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is against My people.
It is against all the princes of Israel!
They are given over to the sword with My people.
Therefore strike your thigh in grief.(i)
13 Surely it will be a trial!
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
The scepter will not continue.[e]
This is the declaration of the Lord
God
.
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy
and clap your hands together.(j)
Let the sword strike two times, even three.
It is a sword for massacre,
a sword for great massacre—
it surrounds[f] them!
15 I have appointed a sword(k) for slaughter[g]
at all their gates,
so that their hearts may melt
and many may stumble.
Yes! It is ready to flash like lightning;(l)
it is drawn[h] for slaughter.
16 Slash to the right;
turn to the left—
wherever your blade is directed.
17 I also will clap My hands together,
and I will satisfy My wrath.(m)
I, Yahweh, have spoken."
18 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 19 "Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon's king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city. 20 Mark out a road that the sword can take to Rabbah of the Ammonites(n) and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the split in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, consults the idols, and observes the liver. 22 The answer marked[i] Jerusalem appears in his right hand, indicating that he should set up battering rams,(o) give the order to[j] slaughter, raise a battle cry, set battering rams against the gates, build a ramp, and construct a siege wall. 23 It will seem like false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn an oath to the Babylonians,[k](p) but it will draw attention to their guilt so that they will be captured.
24 "Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your actions, since you have done this, you will be captured by them.
25 And you, profane and wicked prince of Israel,[l](q)
the day has come(r)
for your punishment."[m]
26 This is what the Lord God says:
Remove the turban, and take off the crown.
Things will not remain as they are;[n]
exalt the lowly and bring down the exalted.(s)
27 A ruin, a ruin,
I will make it a ruin!
Yet this will not happen
until He comes;(t)
I have given the judgment to Him.[o]
28 "Now prophesy, son of man, and say: This is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt. You are to proclaim:
A sword! A sword
is drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume,(u) to flash like lightning.
29 While they offer false visions(v)
and lying divinations about you,
the time has come to put you
to the necks of the profane wicked ones;
the day has come
for your punishment.[p]
30 Return it to its sheath!(w)
I will judge you[q]
in the place where you were created,
in the land of your origin.
31 I will pour out My indignation on you;
I will blow the fire of My fury on you.(x)
I will hand you over to brutal men,
skilled at destruction.
32 You will be fuel for the fire.
Your blood will be spilled in the land.
You will not be remembered,(y)
for I, Yahweh, have spoken."
Chapter 22
Indictment of Sinful Jerusalem
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 "As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.(a) 3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood(b) within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled! 4 You are guilty of the blood you have shed,(c) and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. 5 Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.
6 "Look, every prince of Israel(d) within you has used his strength to shed blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt,(e) and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you.(f) 8 You despise My holy things and profane My Sabbaths.(g) 9 There are men within you who slander in order to shed blood.(h) People who live in you eat at the mountain shrines; they commit immoral acts within you. 10 Men within you have sexual intercourse with their father's wife and violate women during their menstrual impurity.(i) 11 One man within you commits a detestable act with his neighbor's wife;(j) another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his father's daughter.(k) 12 People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood.(l) You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors.(m) You have forgotten Me."(n) This is the declaration of the Lord God .
13 "Now look, I clap My hands together against the dishonest profit you have made(o) and against the blood shed among you. 14 Will your courage endure(p) or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will act.(q) 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries;(r) I will purge your uncleanness.(s) 16 You[a] will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh."(t)
Jerusalem as God's Furnace
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me.(u) All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace;(v) they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have become dross, I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. 20 Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire(w) on them and melt them, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, put you inside, and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted within the city. 22 As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you."(x)
Indictment of a Sinful Land
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 "Son of man, say to her: You are a land that has not been cleansed,(y) that has not received rain in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets(z) within her is[b] like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things.(aa) They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean.(ab) They disregard[c] My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 "Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly. 28 Her prophets plaster with whitewash for them by seeing false visions and lying divinations,(ac) and they say, ‘This is what the Lord God says,' when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery.(ad) They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident. 30 I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall(ae) and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it,(af) but I found no one. 31 So I have poured out My indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads."(ag) This is the declaration of the Lord God .
Isaiah 50
Chapter 50
1 This is what the Lord says:
Where is your mother's divorce certificate
that I used to send her away?(a)
Or who were My creditors that I sold you to?(b)
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,(c)
and your mother was put away
because of your transgressions.
2 Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is My hand too short to redeem?(d)
Or do I have no power to deliver?
Look, I dry up the sea by My rebuke;(e)
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 I dress the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their clothing.(f)
The Obedient Servant
4 The Lord
God
has given Me
the tongue of those who are instructed(g)
to know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me each morning;
He awakens My ear to listen like those being instructed.(h)
5 The Lord
God
has opened My ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn back.(i)
6 I gave My back to those who beat Me,
and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.
I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.(j)
7 The Lord
God
will help Me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set My face like flint,(k)
and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 The One who vindicates Me is near;(l)
who will contend with Me?
Let us confront each other.[a]
Who has a case against Me?[b]
Let him come near Me!
9 In truth, the Lord
God
will help Me;
who will condemn Me?(m)
Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment;
a moth will devour them.(n)
10 Who among you fears the
Lord
,
listening to the voice of His Servant?(o)
Who among you walks in darkness,
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of Yahweh;
let him lean on his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
who encircle yourselves with[c] firebrands;
walk in the light of your fire
and in the firebrands you have lit!
This is what you'll get from My hand:
you will lie down in a place of torment.
Philippians 2:12-30
Chapter 2
12 So then, my dear friends,(x) just as you have always obeyed,(y) not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling(z) and arguing,(aa) 15 so that you may be blameless(ab) and pure,(ac) children of God who are faultless(ad) in a crooked(ae) and perverted(af) generation,(ag) among whom you shine like stars in the world. 16 Hold firmly to[c] the message(ah) of life. Then I can boast(ai) in the day of Christ(aj) that I didn't run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am poured out(ak) as a drink offering(al) on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.
Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus(am) to send Timothy(an) to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you. 20 For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; 21 all seek their own interests,(ao) not those of Jesus Christ.(ap) 22 But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father. 23 Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 I am convinced in the Lord that I myself will also come quickly.(aq)
25 But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus(ar)—my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need(as)— 26 since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one grief on top of another. 28 For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice when you see him again and I may be less anxious. 29 Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in honor, 30 because he came close to death for the work(at) of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.
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