Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Ezekiel, chapters 13 through 18. Chapter 13 And
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son
of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel
who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out
of their own heart, Hear the word of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets
who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the
desert. You have not gone up into the gaps to
build the wall for the house of Israel to stand
in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned
futility and false divination, saying, Thus says
the Lord, but the Lord has not sent them. Yet
they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have
you not seen a futile vision, and have you not
spoken? False divination? You say the Lord says,
but I have not spoken. Therefore, thus says the
Lord God, because you have spoken nonsense and
envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against
you, says the Lord God. My hand will be against
the prophets who envision futility and who divine
lies. They shall not be in assembly of my people,
nor be written in the record of the house of
Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of
Israel. then you shall know that I am the Lord
God. Because, indeed, because they have seduced
my people, saying, Peace, when there is no peace,
and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with
the untempered mortar, say to those who plaster
it with untempered mortar, that it will fall.
There will be flooding, rain, and new or great
hailstones shall fall, and a stormy wind shall
tear it down. Surely when the wall has fallen,
will it not be said to you, Where is the mortar
with which you plastered it? Therefore, thus
says the Lord God, I will cause a stormy wind
to break forth in my fury, and there shall be
a flooding rain in my anger, and great hailstones
in fury to consume it. So I will break down the
wall you have plastered with untempered mortar,
and bring it down to the ground, so that its
foundation will be uncovered. It will fall, and
you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then
you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will
I accomplish my wrath on the wall and on those
who have plastered it with untempered mortar.
And I will say to you, the wall is no more, nor
those who plastered it. That is, the prophets
of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and
who see visions of peace for her when there is
no peace, says the Lord God. Likewise, son of
man, set your face against the daughters of your
people who prophesy out of their own heart. Prophesy
against them and say, Thus says the Lord God,
Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their
sleeves and make veils for the heads of people
of every height to hunt souls. Will you hunt
the souls of my people and keep yourselves alive?
And will you profane me among my people for handfuls
of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people
who should not die and keeping people alive who
should not live? By your lying to my people who
listen to lies? Therefore, thus says the Lord
God, Behold, I am against your magic charms,
by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will
tear them from your arms and let the souls go,
the souls you hunt like birds. I will also tear
off your veils and deliver my people out of your
hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in
your hand. Chapter 14 Now some of the elders
of Israel came to me and sat before me, and the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man,
these men have set up their idols in their hearts
and put before them that which causes them to
stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be
inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to
them and say to them, thus says the lord god
everyone of the house of israel who sets up his
idols in his heart and puts before him what causes
him to stumble into iniquity and then comes to
the prophet i the lord will swear him who comes
according to the multitude of his idols that
i may seize the house of israel by their heart
because they are all estranged from me by their
idols therefore say to the house of israel Thus
says the Lord God, Repent, turn away from your
idols, and turn your faces away from all your
abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel,
or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who
separates himself from me and sets up his idols
in his heart and puts before him what causes
him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a
prophet to inquire of him concerning me, I the
Lord will answer him by myself. I will set my
face against that man and make him a sign and
a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst
of my people. Then you shall know that I am the
Lord. And if the prophet is induced to speak
anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet,
and I will stretch out my hand against him and
destroy him from among my people Israel. And
they shall bear their iniquity. The punishment
of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment
of the one who inquired, that the house of Israel
may no longer stray from me, nor be profaned
any more with all their transgressions, but that
they may be my people and I may be their God,
says the Lord God. The word of the Lord came
again to me, saying, Son of man, when a land
sins against me by persistent unfaithfulness,
I will stretch out my hand against it, I will
cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it,
and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these
three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it,
they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,
says the Lord God. If I cause wild beasts to
pass through the land, and they empty it, and
make it so desolate that no man may pass through
because of the beasts, even though these three
men were in it as I live, says the Lord God,
they would deliver neither sons nor daughters,
only they would be delivered, and the land would
be desolate. Or if I bring a sword on that land
and say, Sword, go through the land, and I cut
off man and beast from it, even though these
three men were in it as i live says the lord
god they would deliver neither sons nor daughters
but only they themselves would be delivered or
if i send a pestilence into that land and pour
out my fury on it in blood and cut off from it
man and beast even though noah daniel and job
were in it as i live says the lord god they would
deliver neither son nor daughter they would deliver
only themselves by their righteousness. For thus
says the Lord God, How much more it shall be
when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem,
the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence,
to cut off man and beast from it. yet behold
there shall be left in it a remnant who will
be brought out both sons and daughters surely
they will come out to you and you will see their
ways and their doings then you will be comforted
concerning the disaster that i have brought upon
jerusalem all that i have brought upon it and
they will comfort you when you see their ways
and their doings and you shall know that i have
done nothing without cause that i have done in
it says the lord god Chapter 15 Then the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, how
is the wood of the vine better than any other
wood, the vine branch which is among the trees
of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make
any object? Or can men make a peg from it to
hang any vessel on? Instead, it is thrown into
the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends
of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful
for any work? Indeed, when it was whole, no object
could be made from it. How much less will it
be useful for any work when the fire has devoured
it and it is burned? Therefore thus says the
Lord God, Like the wood of the vine among the
trees of the forest, which I have given to the
fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and I will set my face against
them. They will go out from one fire, but another
fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that
I am the Lord when I set my face against them.
Thus I will make the land desolate, because they
have persisted in unfaithfulness, says the Lord
God. Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem,
Your birth and your nativity are from the land
of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your
mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the
day you were born, your navel cord was not cut,
nor were you washed in water to cleanse you.
You were not rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in
swaddling cloth. No eye pitied you to do any
of these things for you, to have compassion on
you, but you were thrown out into the open field,
when you yourself were loathed on the day you
were born. And when I passed by you and saw you
struggling in your own blood, I said to you,
in your blood, live. Yes, I said to you, in your
blood, live. I made you thrive like a plant in
the field, and you grew, matured, and became
very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your
hair grew, but you were naked and bare. When
I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed,
your time was the time of love. So I spread my
wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes,
I swore an oath to you, and I entered into a
covenant with you, and you became mine, says
the Lord God. Then I washed you in water. Yes,
I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed
you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered clothes,
and gave you sandals of badger skin. I clothed
you with fine linen, and covered you with silk.
I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on
your wrists and a chain on your neck, and I put
a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears,
and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you
were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing
was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth.
You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil.
You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded
to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations
because of your beauty, for it was perfect through
my splendor which I had bestowed on you, says
the Lord God. But you trusted in your own beauty,
played the harlot because of your fame, and poured
out your harlotry on everyone passing by who
would have it. You took some of your garments
and adorned multicolored high places for yourself
and played the harlot on them. Such things should
not happen nor be. You have also taken your beautiful
jewelry from my gold and my silver, which I had
given you, and made for yourself male images
and played the harlot with them. You took your
embroidered garments and covered them, and you
set my oil and my incense before them. Also my
food, which I gave you, the pastry of fine flour,
oil, and honey, which I fed you, you set it before
them as sweet incense, and so it was, says the
Lord God. Moreover, you took your sons and your
daughters, whom you bore to me, and these you
sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your
acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have
slain my children and offered them up to them
by causing them to pass through the fire? And
in all your abominations and acts of harlotry,
you did not remember the days of your youth,
when you were naked and bare, struggling in your
blood. Then it was so, after all your wickedness.
Woe, woe to you, says the Lord God. that you
also built for yourself a shrine and made a high
place for yourself in every street. You built
your high places at the head of every road and
made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered
yourself to everyone who passed by and multiplied
your acts of harlotry. You also committed harlotry
with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors,
and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke
me to anger. Behold, therefore, I stretched out
my hand against you, diminished your allotment,
and gave you up to the will of those who hate
you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were
ashamed of your lewd behavior. You also played
the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were
insatiable. Indeed, you played the harlot with
them, and still were not satisfied. Moreover,
you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as
the land of the traitor Chaldea. and even then
you are not satisfied. How degenerate is your
heart, says the Lord God, seeing you do all these
things, the deeds of a brazen harlot. You erected
your shrine at the head of every road and built
your high place in every street. Yet you are
not like a harlot because you scorned payment.
You are an adulterous wife who takes strangers
instead of her husband. Men make payment to all
harlots, but you made your payments to all your
lovers and hired them to come to you from all
around for your harlotry. You are the opposite
of other women in your harlotry because no one
solicited you to be a harlot, in that you gave
payment, but no payment was given you. Therefore
you are the opposite. Now then, O harlot, hear
the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God,
And I will judge you. as women who break wedlock
or shed blood are judged. I will bring blood
upon you in fury and jealousy. I will also give
you into their hand, and they shall throw down
your shrines and break down your high places.
They shall also strip you of your clothes, take
your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and
bare. They shall also bring up an assembly against
you, and they shall stone you with stones and
thrust you through with their swords. They shall
burn your houses with fire and execute judgments
on you in the sight of many women. And I will
make you cease playing the harlot, and you shall
no longer hire lovers. So I will lay to rest
my fury toward you, and my jealousy shall depart
from you. I will be quiet and be angry no more.
Because you did not remember the days of your
youth, but agitated me with all these things,
surely I will also recompense your deeds on your
own head, says the Lord God. And you shall not
commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations.
Indeed, everyone who quotes Proverbs will use
this proverb against you, like mother, like daughter.
You are your mother's daughter. loathing husband
and children and you are the sister of your sisters
who loathed their husbands and children your
mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite
your elder sister is Samaria who dwells with
her daughters to the north of you and your younger
sister who dwells to the south of you is Sodom
and her daughters you did not walk in their ways
nor act according to their abominations but as
if that were too little you became more corrupt
than they in all your ways As I live, says the
Lord God, neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters
have done as you and your daughters have done.
Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom.
She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food,
and abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen
the hand of the poor and needy. And they were
haughty and committed abomination before me.
Therefore I took them away as I saw fit. Samaria
did not commit half of your sins, but you have
multiplied your abominations more than they and
have justified your sisters by all the abominations
which you have done. You who judged your sisters,
bear your own shame also, because the sins which
you committed were more abominable than theirs.
They are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced
also and bear your own shame, because you justified
your sisters. When I bring back their captives,
the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and
the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then
I will also bring back the captives of your captivity
among them, that you may bear your own shame
and be disgraced by all that you did when you
comforted them. When your sisters, Sodom and
her daughters, return to their former state,
and Samaria and her daughters return to their
former state, then you and your daughters will
return to your former state. For your sister
Sodom, was not a byword in your mouth in the
days of your pride, before your wickedness was
uncovered. It was like the time of the reproach
of the daughters of Syria and all those around
her, and the daughters of the Philistines who
despise you everywhere. You have paid for your
lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.
For thus says the Lord God, I will deal with
you as you have done, who despised the oath by
breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember
my covenant with you in the days of your youth,
and I will establish an everlasting covenant
with you. Then you will remember your ways and
be ashamed when you receive your older and your
younger sisters. For I will give them to you
for daughters, but not because of my covenant
with you. And I will establish my covenant with
you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord,
that you may remember and be ashamed and never
open your mouth anymore because of your shame.
when I provide you an atonement for all you have
done, says the Lord God. Chapter 17 And the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, pose
a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of
Israel, and say, Thus says the Lord God, A great
eagle with large wings and long pinions, full
of feathers of various colors, came to Lebanon,
and took from the cedar the highest branch. He
cropped off its topmost young twig and carried
it to a land of trade. He set it in a city of
merchants. Then he took some of the seed of the
land and planted it in a fertile field. He placed
it by abundant waters and set it like a willow
tree. And it grew and became a spreading vine
of low stature. Its branches turned toward him,
but its roots were under it. So it became a vine,
brought forth branches, and put forth shoots.
But there was another great eagle with large
wings and many feathers, and behold, this vine
bent its roots toward him, and stretched its
branches toward him, from the garden terrace
where it had been planted, that he might water
it. It was planted in good soil by many waters,
to bring forth branches, bear fruit, and become
a majestic vine. Say, thus says the Lord God,
Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots,
cut off its fruit, and leave it to wither? All
of its spring leaves will wither, and no great
power or many people will be needed to pluck
it up by its roots. Behold, it is planted. Will
it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the
east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden
terrace where it grew. Moreover, the word of
the Lord came to me, saying, Say now to the rebellious
house, Do you not know what these things mean?
Tell them. indeed the king of babylon went to
jerusalem and took its king and princes and led
them with him to babylon and he took the king's
offering made the covenant with him and put him
under oath he also took away the mighty of the
land that the kingdom might be brought low and
not lift itself up but that by keeping his covenant
it might stand but he rebelled against him by
sending his ambassadors to egypt that they might
give him horses and many people will he prosper
will he who does such things escape can he break
a covenant and still be delivered as i live says
the lord god surely in the place where the king
dwells who made him king whose oath he despised
and whose covenant he broke with him in the midst
of babylon he shall die nor will pharaoh with
his mighty army and great company do anything
in the war when they heap up a siege mound and
build a wall to cut off many persons since he
despised the oath by breaking the covenant and
in fact gave his hand and still did all these
things he shall not escape therefore thus says
the lord god As I live, surely my oath which
he despised, and my covenant which he broke,
I will recompense on his own head. I will spread
my net over him, and he shall be taken in my
snare. I will bring him to Babylon, and try him
there for the treason which he committed against
me. All his fugitives, with all his troops, shall
fall by the sword, and those who remain shall
be scattered to every wind. And you shall know
that I, the Lord, have spoken. Thus says the
Lord God, I will take also one of the highest
branches of the high cedar and set it out. I
will crop off the topmost of its young twigs,
a tender one, and will plant it on a high and
prominent mountain. On the mountain height of
Israel I will plant it, and it will bring forth
boughs and bear fruit and be a majestic cedar.
Under it will dwell birds of every sort. In the
shadow of its branches they will dwell. And all
the trees of the field shall know that I, the
Lord, have brought down the high tree and exalted
the low tree, dried up the green tree and made
the dry tree flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken
and have done it. Chapter 18 The word of the
Lord came to me again, saying, What do you mean
when you use this proverb concerning the land
of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour
grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge?
As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer
use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls
are mine. The soul of the father as well as the
soul of the son is mine. The soul who sins shall
die. But if a man is just and does what is lawful
and right, if he has not eaten on the mountains,
nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house
of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's wife, nor
approached a woman during her impurity, if he
has not oppressed anyone, but has restored to
the debtor his pledge, has robbed no one by violence,
but has given his bread to the hungry, and covered
the naked with clothing, if he has not exacted
usury, nor taken any increase, but has withdrawn
his hand from iniquity, and executed true judgment
between man and man, if he has walked in my statutes,
and kept my judgments faithfully, he is just,
he shall surely live, says the Lord God. If he
begets a son who is a robber, or a shedder of
blood, Who does any of these things, and does
none of those duties, but has eaten on the mountains
or defiled his neighbor's wife? If he has oppressed
the poor and needy, robbed by violence, not restored
the pledge, lifted his eyes to the idols, or
committed abomination, if he has exacted usury
or taken increase, shall he then live? He shall
not live. If he has done any of these abominations,
he shall surely die. His blood shall be upon
him. If, however, he begets a son, who sees all
the sins which his father has done, and considers,
but does not do likewise, who has not eaten on
the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols
of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's
wife, has not oppressed anyone, nor withheld
a pledge, nor robbed by violence, but has given
his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked
with clothing, who has withdrawn his hand from
the poor and not received usury or increase,
but has executed my judgments and walked in my
statutes, he shall not die for the iniquity of
his father, he shall surely live. As for his
father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed
his brother by violence, and did what is not
good among his people, behold, he shall die for
his iniquity. Yet you say, why should the son
not bear the guilt of the father? Because the
Son has done what is lawful and right, and has
kept all my statutes and observed them. He shall
surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The
Son shall not bear the guilt of the Father, nor
the Father bear the guilt of the Son. The righteousness
of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which
he has committed, keeps all my statutes, and
does what is lawful and right, he shall surely
live. he shall not die. None of the transgressions
which he has committed shall be remembered against
him. Because of the righteousness which he has
done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at
all that the wicked should die, says the Lord
God, and not that he should turn from his ways
and live? But when a righteous man turns away
from his righteousness and commits iniquity,
and does according to all the abominations that
the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness
which he has done shall not be remembered. Because
of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty,
and the sin which he has committed, because of
them he shall die. Yet you say, The way of the
Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel.
Is it not my way which is fair, and your ways
which are not fair? When a righteous man turns
away from his righteousness, commits iniquity,
and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity
which he has done that he dies. Again, when a
wicked man turns away from the wickedness which
he committed, and does what is lawful and right,
he preserves himself alive. Because he considers
and turns away from all the transgressions which
he committed, he shall surely live, he shall
not die. Yet the house of Israel says, The way
of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, is
it not my ways which are fair, and your ways
which are not fair? Therefore I will judge you,
O house of Israel, everyone according to his
ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from
all your transgressions, so that iniquity will
not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the
transgressions which you have committed, and
get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
For why should you die, O house of Israel? For
I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,
says the Lord God. Therefore turn and live. I
hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I
did and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow
to continue on our journey. God bless you and
have a great day.