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Ezekiel 21, 22

The Drawn Sword of God

21*The word of the Lord came to me: 2Mortal, set your face towards Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel 3and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: I am coming against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north; 5and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. 6Moan therefore, mortal; moan with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes. 7And when they say to you, ‘Why do you moan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that has come. Every heart will fail and all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will turn to water. See, it comes and it will be fulfilled,’ says the Lord God.

And the word of the Lord came to me: 9Mortal, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord; Say:
A sword, a sword is sharpened,
   it is also polished;
10 it is sharpened for slaughter,
   honed to flash like lightning!
How can we make merry?
   You have despised the rod
   and all discipline.*
11 The sword* is given to be polished,
   to be grasped in the hand;
it is sharpened, the sword is polished,
   to be placed in the slayer’s hand.
12 Cry and wail, O mortal,
   for it is against my people;
it is against all Israel’s princes;
   they are thrown to the sword,
   together with my people.
   Ah! Strike the thigh!
13For consider: What! If you despise the rod, will it not happen?* says the Lord God.
14 And you, mortal, prophesy;
   strike hand to hand.
Let the sword fall twice, thrice;
   it is a sword for killing.
A sword for great slaughter—
   it surrounds them;
15 therefore hearts fail
   and many stumble.
At all their gates I have set
   the point* of the sword.
Ah! It is made for flashing,
   it is polished* for slaughter.
16 Attack to the right!
   Engage to the left!—
   wherever your edge is directed.
17 I too will strike hand to hand,
   I will satisfy my fury;
   I the Lord have spoken.

18 The word of the Lord came to me: 19Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a signpost, make it for a fork in the road leading to a city; 20mark out the road for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah and to* Jerusalem the fortified. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork in the two roads, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim,* he inspects the liver. 22Into his right hand comes the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to call out for slaughter, for raising the battle cry, to set battering-rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build siege-towers. 23But to them it will seem like a false divination; they have sworn solemn oaths; but he brings their guilt to remembrance, bringing about their capture.

24 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have brought your guilt to remembrance, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.*
25 As for you, vile, wicked prince of Israel,
   you whose day has come,
   the time of final punishment,
26 thus says the Lord God:
Remove the turban, take off the crown;
   things shall not remain as they are.
Exalt that which is low,
   abase that which is high.
27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin—
   I will make it!
   (Such has never occurred.)
Until he comes whose right it is;
   to him I will give it.

28 As for you, mortal, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; say:
A sword, a sword! Drawn for slaughter,
   polished to consume,* to flash like lightning.
29 Offering false visions for you,
   divining lies for you,
they place you over the necks
   of the vile, wicked ones—
those whose day has come,
   the time of final punishment.
30 Return it to its sheath!
In the place where you were created,
   in the land of your origin,
   I will judge you.
31 I will pour out my indignation upon you,
   with the fire of my wrath
   I will blow upon you.
I will deliver you into brutish hands,
   those skilful to destroy.
32 You shall be fuel for the fire,
   your blood shall enter the earth;
you shall be remembered no more,
   for I the Lord have spoken.

The Bloody City

22The word of the Lord came to me: 2You, mortal, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to it all its abominable deeds. 3You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city! Shedding blood within itself; its time has come; making its idols, defiling itself. 4You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made; you have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a disgrace before the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.

The princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you. 8You have despised my holy things, and profaned my sabbaths. 9In you are those who slander to shed blood, those in you who eat upon the mountains, who commit lewdness in your midst. 10In you they uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women in their menstrual periods. 11One commits abomination with his neighbour’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles his sister, his father’s daughter. 12In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you take both advance interest and accrued interest, and make gain of your neighbours by extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.

13 See, I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain you have made, and at the blood that has been shed within you. 14Can your courage endure, or can your hands remain strong in the days when I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your filthiness out of you. 16And I* shall be profaned through you in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18Mortal, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver,* bronze, tin, iron, and lead. In the smelter they have become dross. 19Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted within it. 22As silver is melted in a smelter, so you shall be melted in it; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.

23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in the day of indignation. 25Its princes* within it are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it. 26Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28Its prophets have smeared whitewash on their behalf, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God’, when the Lord has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practised extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. 30And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.

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Psalm 79

Plea for Mercy for Jerusalem

A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
   they have defiled your holy temple;
   they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
   to the birds of the air for food,
   the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
   all around Jerusalem,
   and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbours,
   mocked and derided by those around us.


5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever?
   Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
   that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
   that do not call on your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob
   and laid waste his habitation.


8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
   let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
   for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
   for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
   be known among the nations before our eyes.


11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
   according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbours
   the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
   will give thanks to you for ever;
   from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

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Revelation 2

The Message to Ephesus

2‘To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:

‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. 3I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.

The Message to Smyrna

‘And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life:

‘I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.

The Message to Pergamum

12 ‘And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword:

13 ‘I know where you are living, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me* even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practise fornication. 15So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

The Message to Thyatira

18 ‘And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze:

19 ‘I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. 20But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants* to practise fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. 22Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; 23and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. 24But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call “the deep things of Satan”, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; 25only hold fast to what you have until I come. 26To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end,
I will give authority over the nations;
27 to rule* them with an iron rod,
   as when clay pots are shattered—
28even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. 29Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

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30 June 2021

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.