Through the Bible – Day 322

₁₄The LORD replied:

₁₅Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in Jerusalem claim that you and the other Israelites who were taken to Babylonia are too far away to worship me. They also claim that the land of Israel now belongs only to them. ₁₆But here is what I want you to tell the Israelites in Babylonia:

₂₂After the LORD had finished speaking, the winged creatures spread their wings and flew into the air, and the wheels were beside them. The brightness of the LORD's glory above them ₂₃left Jerusalem and stopped at a hill east of the city.

₂₄Then in my vision, the LORD's Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to the other exiles in Babylonia. The vision faded away, ₂₅and I told them everything the LORD had shown me.

₁The LORD said:

₇I did everything the LORD had said. I packed a few things. Then as the sun was going down, and while everyone was watching, I dug a hole through one of the walls of my house. I pulled out my bag, then lifted it to my shoulders and left in the darkness.

₈The next morning, the LORD ₉reminded me that those rebellious people didn't even ask what I was doing. ₁₀So he sent me back to tell them:

₁₇The LORD said:

₁₈Ezekiel, son of man, shake with fear when you eat, and tremble when you drink. ₁₉Tell the people of Israel that I, the LORD, say that some day everyone in Jerusalem will shake when they eat and tremble when they drink. Their country will be destroyed and left empty, because they have been cruel and violent. ₂₀Every town will lie in ruins, and the land will be a barren desert. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

₂₁The LORD said:

₂₂Ezekiel, son of man, you've heard people in Israel use the saying, “Time passes, and prophets are proved wrong.” ₂₃Now tell the people that I, the LORD, am going to prove that saying wrong. No one will ever be able to use it again in Israel, because very soon everything I have said will come true! ₂₄The people will hear no more useless warnings and false messages. ₂₅I will give them my message, and what I say will certainly happen. Warn those rebels that the time has come for them to be punished. I, the LORD, make this promise.

_26-27Ezekiel, the people of Israel are also saying that your visions and messages are only about things in the future. ₂₈So tell them that my words will soon come true, just as I have warned. I, the LORD, have spoken.

₁The LORD said:

₂Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the prophets of Israel who say they speak in my name, but who preach messages that come from their own imagination. Tell them it's time to hear my message.

₃I, the LORD God, say those lying prophets are doomed! They don't see visions—they make up their own messages! ₄Israel's prophets are no better than jackals that hunt for food among the ruins of a city. ₅They don't warn the people about coming trouble or tell them how dangerous it is to sin against me. ₆Those prophets lie by claiming they speak for me, but I have not even chosen them to be my prophets. And they still think their words will come true. ₇They say they're preaching my messages, but they are full of lies—I did not speak to them!

₈So I am going to punish those lying prophets for deceiving the people of Israel with false messages. ₉I will turn against them and no longer let them belong to my people. They will not be allowed to call themselves Israelites or even to set foot in Israel. Then they will realize that I am the LORD God.

₁₀Those prophets refuse to be honest. They tell my people there will be peace, even though there's no peace to be found. They are like workers who think they can fix a shaky wall by covering it with paint. ₁₁But when I send rainstorms, hailstones, and strong winds, the wall will surely collapse. ₁₂People will then ask the workers why the paint didn't hold it up.

₁₃That wall is the city of Jerusalem. And I, the LORD God, am so angry that I will send strong winds, rainstorms, and hailstones to destroy it. ₁₄The lying prophets have tried to cover-up the evil in Jerusalem, but I will tear down the city, all the way to its foundations. And when it collapses, those prophets will be killed, and everyone will know that I have done these things.

₁₅The city of Jerusalem and its lying prophets will feel my fierce anger. Then I will announce that the city has fallen and that the lying prophets are dead, ₁₆because they promised my people peace, when there was no peace. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

₁₇Ezekiel, son of man, now condemn the women of Israel who preach messages that come from their own imagination. ₁₈Tell them they're doomed! They wear magic charms on their wrists and scarves on their heads, then trick others into believing they can predict the future. They won't get away with telling those lies. ₁₉They charge my people a few handfuls of barley and a couple of pieces of bread, and then give messages that are insulting to me. They use lies to sentence the innocent to death and to help the guilty go free. And my people believe them!

₂₀I hate the magic charms they use to trick people into believing their lies. I will rip those charms from their wrists and set free the people they have trapped like birds. ₂₁I will tear the scarves from their heads and rescue my people from their power once and for all. Then they will know that I am the LORD God.

₂₂They do things I would never do. They lie to good people and encourage them to do wrong, and they convince the wicked to keep sinning and ruin their lives. ₂₃I will no longer let these women give false messages and use magic, and I will free my people from their control. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.

₁Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? ₂You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. ₃Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.

₄You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know that if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. ₅Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”? ₆In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say,

₇Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. ₈Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind. ₉Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. ₁₀Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honour you.

₁₁My friends, don't say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God's Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it ₁₂or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?

₁₃You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” ₁₄What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. ₁₅You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” ₁₆Yet you are stupid enough to boast, and it is wrong to be so proud. ₁₇If you don't do what you know is right, you have sinned.