The Living Bible (265 page)

Ezekiel
24

One day late in December of the ninth year (of King Jehoiachin’s captivity), another message came to me from the Lord.

    
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 “Son of dust,” he said, “write down this date, for today the king of Babylon has attacked Jerusalem.
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 And now give this parable to these rebels, Israel; tell them, ‘The Lord God says: Put a pot of water on the fire to boil.
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 Fill it with choicest mutton, the rump and shoulder and all the most tender cuts.
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 Use only the best sheep from the flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot. Boil the meat well, until the flesh falls off the bones.’”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “Woe to Jerusalem, City of Murderers; you are a pot that is pitted with rust and with wickedness. So take out the meat chunk by chunk in whatever order it comes—for none is better than any other.
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 For her wickedness is evident to all—she boldly murders, leaving blood upon the rocks in open view for all to see; she does not even try to cover it.
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 And I have left it there, uncovered, to shout to me against her and arouse my wrath and vengeance.

    
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 “Woe to Jerusalem, City of Murderers. I will pile on the fuel beneath her.
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 Heap on the wood; let the fire roar and the pot boil. Cook the meat well, and then empty the pot and burn the bones.
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 Now set it empty on the coals to scorch away the rust and corruption.
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 But all for naught—it all remains despite the hottest fire.
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 It is the rust and corruption of your filthy lewdness, of worshiping your idols. And now, because I wanted to cleanse you and you refused, remain filthy until my fury has accomplished all its terrors upon you!
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 I, the Lord, have spoken it; it shall come to pass and I will do it.”

    
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 Again a message came to me from the Lord, saying:

    
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 “Son of dust, I am going to take away your lovely wife. Suddenly, she will die. Yet you must show no sorrow. Do not weep; let there be no tears.
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 You may sigh, but only quietly. Let there be no wailing at her grave; don’t bare your head nor feet, and don’t accept the food brought to you by consoling friends.”

    
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 I proclaimed this to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did all the Lord had told me to.

    
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 Then the people said: “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”

    
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 And I answered, “The Lord told me to say to the people of Israel: ‘I will destroy my lovely, beautiful Temple, the strength of your nation. And your sons and daughters in Judea will be slaughtered by the sword.
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 And you will do as I have done; you may not mourn in public or console yourself by eating the food brought to you by sympathetic friends.
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 Your head and feet shall not be bared; you shall not mourn or weep. But you will sorrow to one another for your sins and mourn privately for all the evil you have done.
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 Ezekiel is an example to you,’ the Lord God says. ‘You will do as he has done. And when that time comes, then you will know I am the Lord.’”

    
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 “Son of dust, on the day I finish taking from them in Jerusalem the joy of their hearts and their glory and joys—their wives and their sons and their daughters—
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 on that day a refugee from Jerusalem will start on a journey to come to you in Babylon to tell you what has happened.
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 And on the day of his arrival, your voice will suddenly return to you so that you can talk with him; and you will be a symbol for these people, and they shall know I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel
25

Then the Lord’s message came to me again. He said:

    
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 “Son of dust, look toward the land of Ammon and prophesy against its people.
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 Tell them: ‘Listen to what the Lord God says. Because you scoffed when my Temple was destroyed, and mocked Israel in her anguish, and laughed at Judah when she was marched away captive,
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 therefore I will let the Bedouins from the desert to the east of you overrun your land. They will set up their encampments among you. They will harvest all your fruit and steal your dairy cattle.
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 And I will turn the city of Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all the country of the Ammonites into a wasteland where flocks of sheep can graze. Then you will know I am the Lord.’”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “Because you clapped and stamped and cheered with glee at the destruction of my people,
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 therefore I will lay my hand heavily upon you, delivering you to many nations for devastation. I will cut you off from being a nation anymore. I will destroy you; then you shall know I am the Lord.”

    
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 And the Lord God says: “Because the Moabites have said that Judah is no better off than any other nation,
^9-10
 therefore I will open up the eastern flank of Moab, wiping out her frontier cities, the glory of the nation—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim. And Bedouin tribes from the desert to the east will pour in upon her, just as they will upon Ammon. And Moab will no longer be counted among the nations.
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 Thus I will bring down my judgment upon the Moabites, and they shall know I am the Lord.”

    
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 And the Lord God says: “Because the people of Edom have sinned so greatly by avenging themselves upon the people of Judah,
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 I will smash Edom with my fist and wipe out her people, her cattle, and her flocks. The sword will destroy everything from Teman to Dedan.
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 By the hand of my people, Israel, this shall be done. They will carry out my furious vengeance.”

    
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 And the Lord God says: “Because the Philistines have acted against Judah out of revenge and long-standing hatred,
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 I will shake my fist over the land of the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Cherethites and utterly destroy those along the seacoast.
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 I will execute terrible vengeance upon them to rebuke them for what they have done. And when all this happens, then they shall know I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel
26

Another message came to me from the Lord on the first day of the month, in the eleventh year (after King Jehoiachin was taken away to captivity).

    
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 “Son of dust, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Ha! She who controlled the lucrative north-south trade routes along the coast and along the course of the Jordan River
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has been broken, and I have fallen heir! Because she has been laid waste, I shall become wealthy!’”

    
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 Therefore the Lord God says: “I stand against you, Tyre, and I will bring nations against you like ocean waves.
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 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will scrape away her soil and make her a bare rock!
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 Her island shall become uninhabited, a place for fishermen to spread their nets, for I have spoken it,” says the Lord God. “Tyre shall become the prey of many nations,
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 and her mainland city shall perish by the sword. Then they shall know I am the Lord.”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “I will bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—the king of kings from the north—against Tyre with a great army and cavalry and chariots.
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 First he will destroy your suburbs; then he will attack your mainland city by building a siege wall and raising a roof of shields against it.
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 He will set up battering rams against your walls and with sledgehammers demolish your forts.
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 The hoofs of his cavalry will choke the city with dust, and your walls will shake as the horses gallop through your broken gates, pulling chariots behind them.
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 Horsemen will occupy every street in the city; they will butcher your people, and your famous, huge pillars will topple.

    
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 “They will plunder all your riches and merchandise and break down your walls. They will destroy your lovely homes and dump your stones and timber and even your dust into the sea.
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 I will stop the music of your songs. No more will there be the sound of harps among you.
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 I will make your island a bare rock,
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a place for fishermen to spread their nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the Lord, have spoken it.” So says the Lord.
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 “The whole country will shake with your fall; the wounded will scream as the slaughter goes on.

    
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 “Then all the seaport rulers shall come down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and beautiful garments and sit on the ground shaking with fear at what they have seen.
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 And they shall wail for you, singing this dirge: ‘O mighty island city, with your naval power that terrorized the mainland, how you have vanished from the seas!
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 How the islands tremble at your fall! They watch dismayed.’”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “I will destroy Tyre to the ground. You will sink beneath the terrible waves of enemy attack. Great seas shall swallow you.
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 I will send you to the pit of hell to lie there with those of long ago. Your city will lie in ruins, dead, like the bodies of those in the underworld who entered long ago the nether world of the dead. Never again will you be inhabited or be given beauty here in the land of those who live.
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 I will bring you to a dreadful end; no search will be enough to find you,” says the Lord.