God’s Dealings with Israel Rehearsed

1Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. 2And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ’ 4Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make them know the abominations of their fathers; 5and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God, 6on that day I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 7I said to them, ‘Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’ 8But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. 12Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. 14But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. 15Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, 16because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their idols. 17Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not cause their annihilation in the wilderness.

18“I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them. 20Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ 21But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. 22But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands, 24because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers. 25I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live; 26and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the Lord.” ’

27“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me. 28When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.” ’ 30Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? 31When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you. 32What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

God Will Restore Israel to Her Land

33“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. 34I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; 35and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord God. 37“I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.

39“As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God, “Go, serve everyone his idols; but later you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols. 40For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. 41As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. 42And you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers. 43There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done. 44Then you will know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’ ”

45Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 46“Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev, 47and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from south to north will be burned by it. 48All flesh will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ’ ” 49Then I said, “Ah Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking parables?’ ”

11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 19For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” 21And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

BOOK 5

PSALM 107

The Lord Delivers Men from Manifold Troubles.

1Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary

3And gathered from the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

4They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;

They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

5They were hungry and thirsty;

Their soul fainted within them.

6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He delivered them out of their distresses.

7He led them also by a straight way,

To go to an inhabited city.

8Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

9For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

10There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Prisoners in misery and chains,

11Because they had rebelled against the words of God

And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

12Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;

They stumbled and there was none to help.

13Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death

And broke their bands apart.

15Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

16For He has shattered gates of bronze

And cut bars of iron asunder.

17Fools, because of their rebellious way,

And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

18Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,

And they drew near to the gates of death.

19Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

20He sent His word and healed them,

And delivered them from their destructions.

21Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

22Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

And tell of His works with joyful singing.

23Those who go down to the sea in ships,

Who do business on great waters;

24They have seen the works of the Lord,

And His wonders in the deep.

25For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,

Which lifted up the waves of the sea.

26They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;

Their soul melted away in their misery.

27They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,

And were at their wits’ end.

28Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

And He brought them out of their distresses.

29He caused the storm to be still,

So that the waves of the sea were hushed.

30Then they were glad because they were quiet,

So He guided them to their desired haven.

31Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

32Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,

And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

33He changes rivers into a wilderness

And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

34A fruitful land into a salt waste,

Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

35He changes a wilderness into a pool of water

And a dry land into springs of water;

36And there He makes the hungry to dwell,

So that they may establish an inhabited city,

37And sow fields and plant vineyards,

And gather a fruitful harvest.

38Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly,

And He does not let their cattle decrease.

39When they are diminished and bowed down

Through oppression, misery and sorrow,

40He pours contempt upon princes

And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

41But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,

And makes his families like a flock.

42The upright see it and are glad;

But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.

43Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,

And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.

11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

That I may reply to him who reproaches me.