6“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the Lord will be brought to answer him in My own person. 8I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

9“But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the Lord, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, 11in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,” ’ declares the Lord God.”

The City Will Not Be Spared

12Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 13“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, 14even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God. 15“If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, 16though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. 17Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’ 18even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. 19Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

21For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! 22Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. 23Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord God.

The Triumphs of Faith

1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2For by it the men of old gained approval.

3By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

1) How do these passages define righteousness in corrupt times?

2) Why does Hebrews tie righteousness to obedient faith?

3) What practices set you apart like Noah?

45He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Job’s Confession

1Then Job answered the Lord and said,

2“I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4‘Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

5I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;

But now my eye sees You;

6Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes.”

God Displeased with Job’s Friends

7It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. 8Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold. 11Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man and full of days.

Lament over Egypt

1The word of the Lord came again to me saying, 2“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’

3For the day is near,

Even the day of the Lord is near;

It will be a day of clouds,

A time of doom for the nations.

4A sword will come upon Egypt,

And anguish will be in Ethiopia;

When the slain fall in Egypt,

They take away her wealth,

And her foundations are torn down.

5Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword.”

6‘Thus says the Lord,

“Indeed, those who support Egypt will fall

And the pride of her power will come down;

From Migdol to Syene

They will fall within her by the sword,”

Declares the Lord God.

7“They will be desolate

In the midst of the desolated lands;

And her cities will be

In the midst of the devastated cities.

8And they will know that I am the Lord,

When I set a fire in Egypt

And all her helpers are broken.

9On that day messengers will go forth from Me in ships to frighten secure Ethiopia; and anguish will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!”

10‘Thus says the Lord God,

“I will also make the hordes of Egypt cease

By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11He and his people with him,

The most ruthless of the nations,

Will be brought in to destroy the land;

And they will draw their swords against Egypt

And fill the land with the slain.

12Moreover, I will make the Nile canals dry

And sell the land into the hands of evil men.

And I will make the land desolate

And all that is in it,

By the hand of strangers; I the Lord have spoken.”

13‘Thus says the Lord God,

“I will also destroy the idols

And make the images cease from Memphis.

And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;

And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

14I will make Pathros desolate,

Set a fire in Zoan

And execute judgments on Thebes.

15I will pour out My wrath on Sin,

The stronghold of Egypt;

I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.

16I will set a fire in Egypt;

Sin will writhe in anguish,

Thebes will be breached

And Memphis will have distresses daily.

17The young men of On and of Pi-beseth

Will fall by the sword,

And the women will go into captivity.

18In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark

When I break there the yoke bars of Egypt.

Then the pride of her power will cease in her;

A cloud will cover her,

And her daughters will go into captivity.

19Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt,

And they will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Victory for Babylon

20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, that it may be strong to hold the sword. 22Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man. 25Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”