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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="EZK.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">Rebellious Israel Purged</div><div class="p"> 1In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.</div><div class="p"> 2Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3&#8220;Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 4&#8220;Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors 5and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, &#8220;I am the Lord your God.&#8221; 6On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 7And I said to them, &#8220;Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. 9But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. 10Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. 12Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws&#8212;by which the person who obeys them will live&#8212;and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. 14But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 15Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them&#8212;a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands&#8212; 16because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. 17Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. 18I said to their children in the wilderness, &#8220;Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 20Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, &#8220;The person who obeys them will live by them,&#8221; and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, 24because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents&#8217; idols. 25So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; 26I defiled them through their gifts&#8212;the sacrifice of every firstborn&#8212;that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 27&#8220;Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: 28When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; (It is called Bamah#20:29 Bamah means high place. to this day.)</div><div class="s1">Rebellious Israel Renewed</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;Therefore say to the Israelites: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? 31When you offer your gifts&#8212;the sacrifice of your children in the fire&#8212;you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.</div><div class="p"> 32&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;You say, &#8220;We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.&#8221; But what you have in mind will never happen. 33As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 34I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered&#8212;with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 35I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. 36As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 37I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 39&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. 40For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts,#20:40 Or and the gifts of your firstfruits along with all your holy sacrifices. 41I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. 42Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. 43There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 44You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name&#8217;s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Prophecy Against the South</div><div class="p"> 45The word of the Lord came to me: 46&#8220;Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. 47Say to the southern forest: &#8216;Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. 48Everyone will see that I the Lord have kindled it; it will not be quenched.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 49Then I said, &#8220;Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me, &#8216;Isn&#8217;t he just telling parables?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#20:49 In Hebrew texts 20:45-49 is numbered 21:1-5.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="EZK.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">Babylon as God&#8217;s Sword of Judgment</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 21:1-32 is numbered 21:6-37. 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3and say to her: &#8216;This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7And when they ask you, &#8216;Why are you groaning?&#8217; you shall say, &#8216;Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.&#8217; It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8The word of the Lord came to me: 9&#8220;Son of man, prophesy and say, &#8216;This is what the Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;A sword, a sword,</div><div class="q2">sharpened and polished&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 10sharpened for the slaughter,</div><div class="q2">polished to flash like lightning!</div><div class="p">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.</div><div class="q1"> 11&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The sword is appointed to be polished,</div><div class="q2">to be grasped with the hand;</div><div class="q1">it is sharpened and polished,</div><div class="q2">made ready for the hand of the slayer.</div><div class="q1"> 12Cry out and wail, son of man,</div><div class="q2">for it is against my people;</div><div class="q2">it is against all the princes of Israel.</div><div class="q1">They are thrown to the sword</div><div class="q2">along with my people.</div><div class="q1">Therefore beat your breast.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="q1"> 14&#8220;So then, son of man, prophesy</div><div class="q2">and strike your hands together.</div><div class="q1">Let the sword strike twice,</div><div class="q2">even three times.</div><div class="q1">It is a sword for slaughter&#8212;</div><div class="q2">a sword for great slaughter,</div><div class="q2">closing in on them from every side.</div><div class="q1"> 15So that hearts may melt with fear</div><div class="q2">and the fallen be many,</div><div class="q1">I have stationed the sword for slaughter#21:15 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</div><div class="q2">at all their gates.</div><div class="q1">Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,</div><div class="q2">it is grasped for slaughter.</div><div class="q1"> 16Slash to the right, you sword,</div><div class="q2">then to the left,</div><div class="q2">wherever your blade is turned.</div><div class="q1"> 17I too will strike my hands together,</div><div class="q2">and my wrath will subside.</div><div class="q1">I the Lord have spoken.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18The word of the Lord came to me: 19&#8220;Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. 20Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. 22Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. 23It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.</div><div class="p"> 24&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: &#8216;Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do&#8212;because you have done this, you will be taken captive.</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, 26this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. 27A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 28&#8220;And you, son of man, prophesy and say, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;A sword, a sword,</div><div class="q2">drawn for the slaughter,</div><div class="q1">polished to consume</div><div class="q2">and to flash like lightning!</div><div class="q1"> 29Despite false visions concerning you</div><div class="q2">and lying divinations about you,</div><div class="q1">it will be laid on the necks</div><div class="q2">of the wicked who are to be slain,</div><div class="q1">whose day has come,</div><div class="q2">whose time of punishment has reached its climax.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 30&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Let the sword return to its sheath.</div><div class="q2">In the place where you were created,</div><div class="q1">in the land of your ancestry,</div><div class="q2">I will judge you.</div><div class="q1"> 31I will pour out my wrath on you</div><div class="q2">and breathe out my fiery anger against you;</div><div class="q1">I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,</div><div class="q2">men skilled in destruction.</div><div class="q1"> 32You will be fuel for the fire,</div><div class="q2">your blood will be shed in your land,</div><div class="q1">you will be remembered no more;</div><div class="q2">for I the Lord have spoken.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJAS">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="JAS.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Greetings.</div><div class="s1">Trials and Temptations</div><div class="p"> 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,#1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19. whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.</div><div class="p"> 9Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10But the rich should take pride in their humiliation&#8212;since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.</div><div class="p"> 12Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.</div><div class="p"> 13When tempted, no one should say, &#8220;God is tempting me.&#8221; For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.</div><div class="p"> 16Don&#8217;t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.</div><div class="s1">Listening and Doing</div><div class="p"> 19My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.</div><div class="p"> 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it&#8212;not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it&#8212;they will be blessed in what they do.</div><div class="p"> 26Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.</div>
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