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 25 through 28, as well as chapter
32. Chapter 25 The word of the Lord came to me,
saying, Son of man, set your face against the
Ammonites, and prophesy against them. Say to
the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God,
thus says the Lord God. Because you said, Aha!
against my sanctuary when it was profaned and
against the land of Israel when it was desolate
and against the house of Judah when they went
into captivity indeed therefore I will deliver
you as a possession to the men of the east and
they shall set their encampments among you and
make their dwellings among you they shall eat
your fruit and they shall drink your milk and
I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon
a resting place for flocks then you shall know
For thus says the Lord God, Thus says the Lord
God, Because Moab and Seir say, Look, the house
of Judah is like all the nations. Therefore,
behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of
cities, of the cities on its frontier, the glory
of the country. To the men of the east I will
give it as a possession. together with the Ammonites,
that the Ammonites may not be remembered among
the nations. And I will execute judgments upon
Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Thus says the Lord God, because of what Edom
did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance,
and has greatly offended by avenging itself on
them. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will
also stretch out my hand against Edom, cut off
man and beast from it, and make it desolation
from Timan. Dedan shall fall by the sword. I
will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of
my people Israel, that they may do in Edom according
to my anger and according to my fury, and they
shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God. Thus
says the Lord God, And it came to pass in the
eleventh year, on the first day of the month,
that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem,
Aha, she is broken, who was the gateway of the
peoples. Now she is turned over to me, I shall
be filled, she is laid waste. Therefore thus
says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you,
O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up
against you, as the sea causes its waves to come
up. and they shall destroy the walls of tyre
and break down her towers i will also scrape
her dust from her and make her like the top of
a rock it shall be a place for spreading nets
in the midst of the sea for i have spoken says
the lord god it shall become plunder for the
nations also her daughter villages which are
in the fields shall be slain by the sword then
they shall know that i am the lord For thus says
the Lord God, Behold, I will bring against Tyre
from the north Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and
with horsemen, and an army with many people.
He will slay with the sword your daughter villages
in the fields. He will heap up a siege mound
against you, build a wall against you, and raise
a defense against you. He will direct his battering
rams against your walls, and with his axes he
will break down your towers. Because of the abundance
of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your
walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen,
the wagons, and the chariots when he enters your
gates, as men enter a city that has been breached.
With the hooves of his horses he will trample
all your streets, he will slay your people by
the sword, and your strong pillars will fall
to the ground. They will plunder your riches
and pillage your merchandise. They will break
down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses.
They will lay your stones, your timber, and your
soil in the midst of the water. I will put an
end to the sound of your songs, and the sound
of your harps shall be heard no more. I will
make you like the top of a rock. You shall be
a place for spreading nets, and you shall never
be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, says
the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to Tyre,
Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of
your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter
is made in the midst of you? Then all the princes
of the sea will come down from their thrones,
lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered
garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling.
They will sit on the ground, tremble every moment,
and be astonished at you. And they will take
up a lamentation for you, and say to you, How
you have perished, O one inhabited by seafaring
men! or renowned city who was strong at sea.
She and her inhabitants, who caused their terror
to be on all her inhabitants, now the coastlands
tremble on the day of your fall. Yes, the coastlands
by the sea are troubled at your departure. For
thus says the Lord God, When I make you a desolate
city, like cities that are not inhabited, when
I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover
you, Then I will bring you down with those who
descend into the pit to the people of old, and
I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the
earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with
those who go down to the pit, so that you may
never be inhabited. And I shall establish glory
in the land of the living. I will make you a
terror, and you shall be no more. Though you
are sought for, you will never be found again,
says the Lord God. The word of the Lord came
again to me, saying, Now, son of man, take up
a lamentation for Tyre, and say to Tyre, You
who are situated at the entrance of the sea,
merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus
says the Lord God. O Tyre, you have said, I am
perfect in beauty. Your borders are in the midst
of the seas. Your builders have perfected your
beauty. They made all your planks of fir trees
from sinear. They took a cedar from Lebanon to
make you a mast. Of oaks from Bashan they made
your oars. The company of Assyrites have inlaid
your planks with ivory from the coasts of Cyprus.
Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was what you
spread for your sale. Blue and purple from the
coasts of Elisha was what covered you. Inhabitants
of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen. Your wise
men, Otair, were in you. They became your pilots.
Elders of Gebel and its wise men were in you
to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea
and their oarsmen were in you to market your
merchandise. Those from Persia, Lydia, and Libya
were in your army as men of war. They hung their
shield and helmet in you. They gave splendor
to you. Men of Arvad, with your army, were on
your walls all around, and the men of Gamad.
were in your towers. They hung their shields
on your walls all around. They made your beauty
perfect. Tarshish was your merchant because of
your many luxury goods. They gave you silver,
iron, tin, and lead for your goods. Javan, Tubal,
and Meshach were your traders. They bartered
human lives and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
Those from the house of Togarmah traded for your
wares with horses, steeds, and mules. The men
of Dedan were your traders. Many isles were the
market of your hand. They brought you ivory tusks
and ebony as payment. Syria was your merchant
because of the abundance of goods you made. They
gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery,
fine linen, corals, and rubies. Judah and the
land of Israel were your traders. They traded
for your merchandise wheat of Minit, millet,
honey, oil, and balm. Damascus was your merchant
because of the abundance of goods you made, because
of your many luxury items, with the wine of Helbon
and with white wool. Dan and Javan paid for your
wares, traversing back and forth, wrought iron,
and Cain were among your merchandise. Dedan was
your merchant in saddlecloth for riding. Arabia
and all the princes of Kedar were your regular
merchants. They traded with you in lambs, rams,
and goats. The merchants of Sheba and Ramah were
your merchants. They traded for your wares, the
choices, spices, all kinds of precious stones,
and gold. Haran, Cani, Eden, the merchants of
Sheba, Assyria, And Chilmad were your merchants.
These were your merchants in choice items, in
purple cloth, in embroidered garments, in chests
of multicolored apparel, in sturdy woven cords
which were in your marketplace. the ships of
tarshish were carriers of your merchandise you
were filled and very glorious in the midst of
the seas your oarsmen brought you into many waters
but the east wind broke you in the midst of the
seas your riches wares and merchandise your mariners
and pilots your caulkers and merchandisers all
your men of war who are in you and the entire
company which is in your midst will fall into
the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin
The common land will shake at the sound of the
cry of your pilots. All who handle the oar, the
mariners, all the pilots of the sea, will come
down from their ships and stand on the shore.
They will make their voice heard because of you.
They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their
heads. They will roll about in ashes. They will
shave themselves completely bald because of you,
gird themselves with sackcloth and weep for you
with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
In their wailing for you, they will take up a
lamentation and lament for you. What city is
like Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea?
When your wares went out by sea, you satisfied
many people. You enriched the kings of the earth
with your many luxury goods and your merchandise.
But you are broken by the seas in the depth of
the waters. Your merchandise and the entire company
will fall in your midst. All the inhabitants
of the isles will be astonished at you. Their
kings will be greatly afraid, and their countenance
will be troubled. The merchants among the peoples
will hiss at you. You will become a horror and
be no more forever. Chapter 28 The word of the
Lord came to me again, saying, Son of man, say
to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God,
Because your heart is lifted up, and you say,
I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods. in the
midst of the seas. Yet you are a man and not
a god, though you set your heart as the heart
of a god. Behold, you are wiser than Daniel.
There is no secret that can be hidden from you.
With your wisdom and your understanding, you
have gained riches for yourself and gathered
gold and silver into your treasuries. By your
great wisdom in trade, you have increased your
riches, and your heart is lifted up because of
your riches. Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
Because you have set your heart as the heart
of a god, behold, therefore, I will bring strangers
against you, the most terrible of the nations,
and they shall draw their swords against the
beauty of your wisdom, and defile your splendor.
They shall throw you down into the pit, and you
shall die the death of the slain in the midst
of the seas. Will you still say before him who
slays you, I am a god? But you shall be a man
and not a god, in the hand of him who slays you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of aliens. For I have spoken, says
the Lord God. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came to me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation
for the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says
the Lord God, You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were
in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone
was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and diamond.
beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise,
and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your
timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the
day you were created. You were the anointed cherub
who covers I established you. You were on the
holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth
in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect
in your ways from the day you were created till
iniquity was found in you. by the abundance of
your trading you became filled with violence
within and you sinned therefore i cast you as
a profane thing out of the mountain of god and
i destroyed you o covering cherub from the midst
of the fiery stones your heart was lifted up
because of your beauty you corrupted your wisdom
for the sake of your splendour i cast you to
the ground i laid you before kings that they
might gaze at you You defiled your sanctuaries
by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity
of your trading. Therefore I brought fire from
your midst, it devoured you, and I turned you
to ashes upon earth. In the sight of all who
saw you, all who knew you among the peoples are
astonished at you. You have become a horror and
shall be no more forever. Then the word of the
Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your
face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her,
and say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am
against you, O Sidon. I will be glorified in
your midst, and they shall know that I am the
Lord, when I execute judgments in her, and I
am hallowed in her. For I will send pestilence
upon her, and blood in her streets. The wounded
shall be judged in her midst, by the sword against
her on every side. Then they shall know that
I am the Lord. And there shall no longer be a
pricking briar or a painful thorn for the house
of Israel from among all who are around them,
who despise them. Then they shall know that I
am the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God, When
I have gathered the house of Israel from the
peoples among whom they are scattered, and am
hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles,
Then they will dwell in their own land, which
I gave to my servant Jacob. And they will dwell
safely there, build houses and plant vineyards.
Yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute
judgments on all those around them who despise
them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord
their God. And it came to pass in the twelfth
year, in the twelfth month, on the first day
of the month, that the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation
for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, You
are like a young lion among the nations, and
you are like a monster in the seas, bursting
forth in your rivers, troubling the waters with
your feet, and fouling the rivers. Thus says
the Lord God, I will therefore spread my net
over you with a company of many people, and they
will draw you up in my net. Then I will leave
you on the land, I will cast you out on the open
fields, and cause to settle on you all the birds
of the heavens. And with you I will fill the
beasts of the whole earth. I will lay your flesh
on the mountains and fill the valleys with your
carcass. I will also water the land with the
flow of your blood. even to the mountains, and
the riverbeds will be full of you. When I put
out your light, I will cover the heavens and
make its stars dark. I will cover the sun with
a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
All the bright lights of the heavens I will make
dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land,
says the Lord God. I will also trouble the hearts
of many peoples, when I bring your destruction
among the nations, in the countries which you
have not known. Yes, I will make many peoples
astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly
afraid of you when I brandish my sword before
them, and they shall tremble every moment, every
man for his own life in the day of your fall.
For thus says the Lord God, The sword of the
king of Babylon shall come upon you, by the swords
of the mighty warriors, all of them the most
terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude
to fall. they shall plunder the pomp of egypt
and all its multitude shall be destroyed also
i will destroy all its animals from beside its
great waters the foot of man shall muddy them
no more nor shall the hoofs of animals muddy
them then i will make their waters clear and
make their rivers run like oil says the lord
god when i make the land of egypt desolate and
the country is destitute of all that once filled
it when i strike all who dwell in it then they
shall know that i am the lord this is the lamentation
with which they shall lament her the daughters
of the nations shall lament her they shall lament
for her for egypt and for all her multitude says
the lord god it came to pass also in the twelfth
year on the fifteenth day of the month that the
word of the lord came to me saying son of man
wail over the multitude of egypt and cast them
down to the depth of the earth her and the daughters
of the famous nations with those who go down
to the pit whom do you surpass in beauty go down
be placed with the uncircumcised they shall fall
in the midst of those slain by the sword she
is delivered to the sword drawing her and all
her multitudes, the strong among the mighty,
shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with
those who help him. They have gone down, they
lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Assyria is there, and all her company, with their
graves all around her, all of them slain, fallen
by the sword. Her graves are set in the recesses
of the pit, and her company is all around her
grave, all of them slain. fallen by the sword,
who caused terror in the land of the living.
There is Elam and all her multitude, all around
her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower
parts of the earth, who caused their terror in
the land of the living. Now they bear their shame
with those who go down to the pit. They have
set her bed in the midst of the slain with all
her multitude, with her graves all around it.
all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Though their terror was caused in the land of
the living, yet they bear their shame with those
who go down to the pit. It was put in the midst
of the slain. There are Meshach and Tubal and
all their multitudes, with all their graves around
it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
though they caused their terror in the land of
the living. They do not lie with the mighty.
who are fallen of the uncircumcised who have
gone down to hell with their weapons of war they
have laid their swords under their heads but
their iniquities will be on their bones because
of the terror of the mighty in the land of the
living yes you shall be broken in the midst of
the uncircumcised and lie with those slain by
the sword there is edom her kings and all her
princes who despite their might are laid beside
those slain by the sword They shall lie with
the uncircumcised, and with those who go down
to the pit. There are the princes of the north,
all of them, and all Sidonians, who have gone
down with the slain, in shame at the terror which
they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword, and bear their
shame with those who go down to the pit. Pharaoh
will see them, and be comforted over all his
multitude. Pharaoh and all his army, slain by
the sword, says the Lord God. For I have caused
my terror in the land of the living, and he shall
be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised with
those slain by the sword. Pharaoh and all his
multitude, says the Lord God. 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.