Along The Way (November 3rd - November 9th)
Scroll to the day you would like to read and click the plus icon to read the day’s scripture.
-
Ezekiel 10 - 11
God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem
Then I looked, and above the dome that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in form resembling a throne. He said to the man clothed in linen, “Go within the wheelwork underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” He went in as I looked on. Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord rose up from the cherub to the entryway of the temple; the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
When he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. And a cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.
I looked, and there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like gleaming beryl. And as for their appearance, the four looked alike, something like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without veering as they moved. Their entire bodies — backs, hands, and wings — were covered with eyes all around, as were the wheels of the four of them. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the wheelwork.” Each one had four faces: the first face was that of the cherub, the second face was that of a human, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
The cherubim rose up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the River Chebar. When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise up from the earth, the wheels at their side did not veer. When they stopped, the others stopped, and when they rose up, the others rose up with them, for a living spirit was in them.
Then the glory of the Lord went out from the entryway of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. The cherubim lifted up their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight as they went out with the wheels beside them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. Each had four faces, each four wings, and underneath their wings something like human hands. As for what their faces were like, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one moved straight ahead.
Judgment on Wicked Counselors
The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. There, at the entrance of the gateway, were twenty-five men; among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. He said to me, “Mortal, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; they say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the pot, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal.”
Then the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: This is what you think, O house of Israel; I know the things that come into your mind. You have killed many in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore thus says the Lord God: The slain whom you have placed within it are the meat, and this city is the pot, but you shall be taken out of it. You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God. I will take you out of it and give you over to the hands of foreigners and execute judgments upon you. You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord. This city shall not be your pot, and you shall not be the meat inside it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not kept, but you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are around you.”
Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord God! You are finishing off the remnant of Israel!”
God Will Restore Israel
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Stay far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.” Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city and stopped on the mountain east of the city. The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
-
Ezekiel 12
Judah’s Captivity Portrayed
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into exile. Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it. In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.
I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.
In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?” Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel in it.” Say, “I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.” And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Judgment Not Postponed
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; and say to the people of the land: “Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it. The inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel that says, “The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing”? Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them: “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says the Lord God.”
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.” Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.”
-
Ezekiel 13
False Prophets Condemned
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!” Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God. Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets smear whitewash on it. Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain, great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out. When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it — the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”
As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives? You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives; I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives, therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
-
Ezekiel 14 - 15
God’s Judgments Justified
Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them; shall I let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord will answer those who come with the multitude of their idols, in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.
Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For any of those of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside in Israel who separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to a prophet to inquire of me by him, I the Lord will answer them myself. I will set my face against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and cut them off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
If a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear their punishment — the punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same — so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and cut off its supply of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it humans and animals, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God. If I send wild animals through the land to ravage it so that it is made desolate and no one may pass through because of the animals, even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword pass through the land,” and I cut off humans and animals from it, though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved. Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off humans and animals from it, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four deadly acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild animals, and pestilence, to cut off humans and animals from it! Yet survivors shall be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; they will come out to you. When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. They shall console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that it was not without cause that I did all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.
The Useless Vine
The word of the Lord came to me:
O mortal, how does the wood of the vine surpass all other wood,
the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest?
Is wood taken from it to make anything?
Does one take a peg from it on which to hang any object?
It is put in the fire for fuel;
when the fire has consumed both ends of it
and the middle of it is charred,
is it useful for anything?
When it was whole it was used for nothing;
how much less — when the fire has consumed it,
and it is charred —
can it ever be used for anything!
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them; although they escape from the fire, the fire shall still consume them, and you shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate because they have acted faithlessly, says the Lord God.
-
Ezekiel 16:1-34
God’s Faithless Bride
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say: Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths. No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you, but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
I passed by you and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to you, “Live! and grow up like a plant of the field.” You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric. I adorned you with ornaments: I put bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck, a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric, and embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen. Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.
But you trusted in your beauty and prostituted yourself because of your fame and lavished your prostitutions on any passer-by. You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful high places and on them prostituted yourself; nothing like this has ever been or ever shall be. You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and my silver that I had given you and made for yourself male images and with them prostituted yourself, and you took your embroidered garments to cover them and set my oil and my incense before them. Also my bread that I gave you — I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey — you set it before them as a pleasing odor, and so it was, says the Lord God. You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your prostitutions were not enough! You slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering to them. And in all your abominations and your prostitutions you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, flailing about in your blood.
After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord God), you built yourself a platform and made yourself a lofty place in every square; at the head of every street you built your lofty place and prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to every passer-by and multiplying your prostitution. You prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your prostitution, to provoke me to anger. Therefore I stretched out my hand against you, reduced your rations, and gave you up to the will of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them, and still you were not satisfied. You multiplied your prostitution with Chaldea, the land of merchants, and even with this you were not satisfied.
How sick is your heart, says the Lord God, that you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, building your platform at the head of every street and making your lofty place in every square! Yet you were not like a prostitute because you scorned payment. Adulterous wife who receives strangers instead of her husband! Gifts are given to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all around for your prostitutions. So you were different from other women in your prostitutions: no one solicited you to prostitute yourself, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; you were different.
-
Ezekiel 16:35-63
Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them against you from all around and will uncover your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness. I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy. I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from prostituting yourself, and you shall also make no more payments. So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm and will be angry no longer. Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged me with all these things, therefore I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God.
Have you not committed lewdness beyond all your abominations? See, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.” You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your big sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; your little sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. You not only followed their ways and acted according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it. Samaria has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than they and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have brought about for your sisters a more favorable judgment; because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes along with theirs, in order that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state; Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state. Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you are a mockery to the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and to the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you. You must bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.
An Everlasting Covenant
Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, in order that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord God.
-
Ezekiel 17
The Two Eagles and the Vine
The word of the Lord came to me: O mortal, propound a riddle and speak an allegory to the house of Israel. Say: Thus says the Lord God:
A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
rich in plumage of many colors,
came to the Lebanon.
He took the top of the cedar,
broke off its topmost shoot;
he carried it to a land of trade,
set it in a city of merchants.
Then he took a seedling from the land,
placed it in fertile soil;
a plant by abundant waters,
he set it like a willow twig.
It sprouted and became a vine
spreading out but low;
its branches turned toward him;
its roots remained where it stood.
So it became a vine;
it brought forth branches,
put forth foliage.
There was another great eagle
with great wings and much plumage.
And see! This vine stretched out
its roots toward him;
it shot out its branches toward him
from the bed where it was planted
so that he might water it.
It had been transplanted
to good soil by abundant waters,
so that it might produce branches
and bear fruit
and become a noble vine.
Say: Thus says the Lord God:
Will it prosper?
Will he not pull up its roots,
cause its fruit to rot and wither,
its fresh sprouting leaves to fade?
No strong arm or mighty army will be needed
to pull it from its roots.
Look, it has been transplanted. Will it thrive?
When the east wind strikes it,
will it not utterly wither,
wither on the bed where it grew?
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. He took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land), so that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up and that by keeping his covenant it might stand. But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king resides who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant with him he broke — in Babylon he shall die. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when ramps are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me. All the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.
Israel Exalted at Last
Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of the cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender shoot
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will transplant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
On the mountain height of Israel
I will transplant it,
and it will produce boughs and bear fruit
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree;
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken;
I will accomplish it.