20Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

22Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,

“All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,

25But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word which was preached to you.

1) Why must those who minister before יהוה live differently?

2) How does priestly holiness reflect יהוה’s own nature?

3) What priestly calling do believers now bear?

Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

1Then Elihu continued and said,

2“Hear my words, you wise men,

And listen to me, you who know.

3For the ear tests words

As the palate tastes food.

4Let us choose for ourselves what is right;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

5For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,

But God has taken away my right;

6Should I lie concerning my right?

My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

7What man is like Job,

Who drinks up derision like water,

8Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,

And walks with wicked men?

9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing

When he is pleased with God.’

10“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.

Far be it from God to do wickedness,

And from the Almighty to do wrong.

11For He pays a man according to his work,

And makes him find it according to his way.

12Surely, God will not act wickedly,

And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

13Who gave Him authority over the earth?

And who has laid on Him the whole world?

14If He should determine to do so,

If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

15All flesh would perish together,

And man would return to dust.

16“But if you have understanding, hear this;

Listen to the sound of my words.

17Shall one who hates justice rule?

And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

18Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

19Who shows no partiality to princes

Nor regards the rich above the poor,

For they all are the work of His hands?

20In a moment they die, and at midnight

People are shaken and pass away,

And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

21“For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,

And He sees all his steps.

22There is no darkness or deep shadow

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

23For He does not need to consider a man further,

That he should go before God in judgment.

24He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,

And sets others in their place.

25Therefore He knows their works,

And He overthrows them in the night,

And they are crushed.

26He strikes them like the wicked

In a public place,

27Because they turned aside from following Him,

And had no regard for any of His ways;

28So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,

And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—

29When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?

And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,

That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

30So that godless men would not rule

Nor be snares of the people.

31“For has anyone said to God,

‘I have borne chastisement;

I will not offend anymore;

32Teach me what I do not see;

If I have done iniquity,

I will not do it again’?

33Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?

For you must choose, and not I;

Therefore declare what you know.

34Men of understanding will say to me,

And a wise man who hears me,

35‘Job speaks without knowledge,

And his words are without wisdom.

36Job ought to be tried to the limit,

Because he answers like wicked men.

37For he adds rebellion to his sin;

He claps his hands among us,

And multiplies his words against God.’ ”

Siege of Jerusalem Predicted

1“Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. 2Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around. 3Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

4“As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. 5For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year. 7Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

Defiled Bread

9“But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10Your food which you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. 12You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung.” 13Then the Lord said, “Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations where I will banish them.” 14But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.” 15Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.” 16Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror, 17because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and waste away in their iniquity.