November 24th, 2022

Greeting

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:

To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.

Greetings.

Trials and Maturity

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.

Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

No one undergoing a trial should say, "I am being tempted by God," since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Scripture quotations have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Indictment of Sinful Jerusalem

The word of the Lord came to me: "As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her. You are to say, 'This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled! You are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.

"'Look, every prince of Israel within you has used his strength to shed blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt, and the resident alien is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you. You despise my holy things and profane my Sabbaths. There are men within you who slander in order to shed blood. People who live in you eat at the mountain shrines; they commit depraved acts within you. Men within you have sexual intercourse with their father's wife and violate women during their menstrual impurity. One man within you commits a detestable act with his neighbor's wife; another defiles his daughter-in-law with depravity; and yet another violates his sister, his father's daughter. People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood. You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors. You have forgotten me. This is the declaration of the Lord God.

"'Now look, I clap my hands together against the dishonest profit you have made and against the blood shed among you. Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act. I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries; I will purge your uncleanness. You will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

Jerusalem as God's Furnace

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, the house of Israel has become merely dross to me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are just dross from silver. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have become dross, I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire on them and melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and wrath, put you inside, and melt you. Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted within the city. As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath on you."

Indictment of a Sinful Land

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that has not been cleansed, that has not received rain in the day of indignation.' The conspiracy of her prophets within her is like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her. Her priests do violence to my instruction and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They close their eyes to my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

"Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly. Her prophets plaster for them with whitewash by seeing false visions and lying divinations, saying, 'This is what the Lord God says,' when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the resident alien. I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one. So I have poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of my fury. I have brought their conduct down on their own heads." This is the declaration of the Lord God.

The Two Immoral Sisters

The word of the Lord came to me again: "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother, who acted like prostitutes in Egypt, behaving promiscuously in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin nipples caressed. The older one was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah represents Samaria and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.

"Oholah acted like a prostitute even though she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians: warriors dressed in blue, governors and prefects, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on steeds. She offered her sexual favors to them; all of them were the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all those she lusted after and with all their idols. She didn't give up her promiscuity that began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin nipples, and poured out their lust on her. Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians she lusted for. They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. Since they executed judgment against her, she became notorious among women.

"Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians: governors and prefects, warriors splendidly dressed, horsemen riding on steeds, all of them desirable young men. And I saw that she had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path. But she increased her promiscuity when she saw male figures carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in bright red, wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers, a depiction of the Babylonians in Chaldea, their native land. At the sight of them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. But after she was defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. When she flaunted her promiscuity and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust just as I turned away from her sister. Yet she multiplied her acts of promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt and lusted after their lovers, whose sexual members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. So you revisited the depravity of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your nipples to enjoy your youthful breasts.

"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to incite your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans; Pekod, Shoa, and Koa; and all the Assyrians with them—desirable young men, all of them governors and prefects, officers and administrators, all of them riding on steeds. They will come against you with an assembly of peoples and with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will set themselves against you on every side with large and small shields and helmets. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will judge you by their own standards. When I vent my jealous fury on you, they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and ears, and the rest of you will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and the rest of you will be consumed by fire. They will strip off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry. So I will put an end to your depravity and sexual immorality, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not look longingly at them or remember Egypt anymore.

"For this is what the Lord God says: I am going to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. They will treat you with hatred, take all you have worked for, and leave you stark naked, so that the shame of your debauchery will be exposed, both your depravity and promiscuity. These things will be done to you because you acted like a prostitute with the nations, defiling yourself with their idols. You have followed the path of your sister, so I will put her cup in your hand."

This is what the Lord God says:

"You will drink your sister's cup,
which is deep and wide.
You will be an object of ridicule and scorn,
for it holds so much.
You will be filled with drunkenness and grief,
with a cup of devastation and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria.
You will drink it and drain it;
then you will gnaw its broken pieces,
and tear your breasts.
For I have spoken."

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: "Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity."

Then the Lord said to me, "Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare their detestable practices to them. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols. And the children they bore to me they have sacrificed in the fire as food for the idols. They also did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that same day and profaned my Sabbaths. On the same day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered my sanctuary to profane it. Yes, that is what they did inside my house.

"In addition, they sent for men who came from far away when a messenger was dispatched to them. And look how they came! You bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry for them. You sat on a luxurious couch with a table spread before it, on which you had set my incense and oil. The sound of a carefree crowd was there. Drunkards from the desert were brought in, along with common men. They put bracelets on the women's hands and beautiful tiaras on their heads. Then I said concerning this woman worn out by adultery: Will they now have illicit sex with her, even her? Yet they had sex with her as one does with a prostitute. This is how they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those depraved women. But righteous men will judge them the way adulteresses and those who shed blood are judged, for they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

"This is what the Lord God says: Summon an assembly against them and consign them to terror and plunder. The assembly will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. So I will put an end to depravity in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your depraved behavior. They will punish you for your depravity, and you will bear the consequences for your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord God."

Scripture quotations have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.