Ezekiel 35

A Message for Edom
 ¹  Again a message came to me from the LORD:  ²  "Son of man, turn and face Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people.  ³  Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD:

"I am your enemy, O Mount Seir,
  and I will raise my fist against you
  to destroy you completely.
 ⁴  I will demolish your cities
  and make you desolate.
Then you will know that I am the LORD.

   ⁵  "Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins.  ⁶  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!  ⁷  I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return.  ⁸  I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.  ⁹  I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
   ¹⁰  "For you said, `The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!'  <sup>11</sup>  Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel [11]  by what I do to you.  <sup>12</sup>  Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, `They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!'  ¹³  In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!
   ¹⁴  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.  ¹⁵  You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel's territory. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 36

Restoration for Israel
 ¹  "Son of man, prophesy to Israel's mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD!  ²  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, `Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!'  <sup>3</sup>  Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, making you the property of many nations and the object of much mocking and slander.  <sup>4</sup>  Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations.  <sup>5</sup>  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My jealous anger burns against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.
   <sup>6</sup>  "Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.  <sup>7</sup>  Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure.
   <sup>8</sup>  "But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon!  <sup>9</sup>  See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted.  <sup>10</sup>  I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.  <sup>11</sup>  I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.  <sup>12</sup>  I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children.
   <sup>13</sup>  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The other nations taunt you, saying, `Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!'  ¹⁴  But you will never again devour your people or rob them of their children, says the Sovereign LORD.  ¹⁵  I will not let you hear those other nations insult you, and you will no longer be mocked by them. You will not be a land that causes its nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD."
   ¹⁶  Then this further message came to me from the LORD:  ¹⁷  "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by the evil way they lived. To me their conduct was as unclean as a woman's menstrual cloth.  ¹⁸  They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, [18]  so I poured out my fury on them.  ¹⁹  I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived.  ²⁰  But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, `These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn't keep them safe in his own land!'  <sup>21</sup>  Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations.
   <sup>22</sup>  "Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations.  <sup>23</sup>  I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD.  <sup>24</sup>  For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
   <sup>25</sup>  "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.  <sup>26</sup>  "And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart."  <sup>27</sup>  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
   <sup>28</sup>  "And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.  <sup>29</sup>  I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land.  <sup>30</sup>  I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.  <sup>31</sup>  Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did.  <sup>32</sup>  But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
   <sup>33</sup>  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.  <sup>34</sup>  The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed.  <sup>35</sup>  And when I bring you back, people will say, `This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!'  ³⁶  Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I say.
   ³⁷  "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock.  ³⁸  They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD."

<<  35:11 Hebrew to them; Greek version reads to you.
<<  36:18 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; also in 36:25.
<<  36:26 Hebrew a heart of flesh.

2 Peter 1

Greetings from Peter
 ¹  This letter is from Simon [1]  Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
  I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness [1]  of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
   ²  May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Growing in Faith
 ³  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  ⁴  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.
   ⁵  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge.  ⁶  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,  ⁷  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
   ⁸  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁹  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
   ¹⁰  So, dear brothers and sisters, [10]  work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.  ¹¹  Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Paying Attention to Scripture
 ¹²  Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.  ¹³  And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. [13]   ¹⁴  For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, [14]   ¹⁵  so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.
   ¹⁶  For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes  ¹⁷  when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." [17]   ¹⁸  We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
   ¹⁹  Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines [19]  in your hearts.  ²⁰  Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding, [20]   ²¹  or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

<<  1:1a Greek Symeon. 1:1b Or to you in the righteousness.
<<  1:10 Greek brothers.
<<  1:13 Greek as long as I am in this tent [or tabernacle].
<<  1:14 Greek I must soon put off my tent [or tabernacle].
<<  1:17 Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35.
<<  1:19 Or rises.
<<  1:20 Or is a matter of one's own interpretation.