November 29th, 2022

The Living Stone and a Holy People

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and honored cornerstone,
and the one who believes in him
will never be put to shame.

So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,

The stone that the builders rejected—
this one has become the cornerstone,

and

A stone to stumble over,
and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

A Call to Good Works

Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.

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.

A Lament for Pharaoh

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,

'You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but you are like a monster in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the rivers.

"'This is what the Lord God says:

I will spread my net over you
with an assembly of many peoples,
and they will haul you up in my net.
I will abandon you on the land
and throw you onto the open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky
to settle on you
and let the wild creatures of the entire earth
eat their fill of you.
I will put your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.
"'When I snuff you out,
I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.
I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

"'I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction
among the nations,
in countries you have not known.
I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you
when I brandish my sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.

"'For this is what the Lord God says:

The sword of Babylon's king
will come against you!
I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
all of them ruthless men from the nations.
They will ravage Egypt's pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
I will slaughter all its cattle
that are beside many waters.
No human foot will churn them again,
and no cattle hooves will disturb them.
Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.

"'The daughters of the nations will chant that lament. They will chant it over Egypt and all its hordes. This is the declaration of the Lord God.'"

Egypt in Sheol

In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt and bring Egypt and the daughters of mighty nations down to the underworld, to be with those who descend to the Pit:

Who do you surpass in loveliness?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
They will fall among those slain by the sword.
A sword is appointed!
They drag her and all her hordes away.
Warrior leaders will speak
from the middle of Sheol
about him and his allies:
'They have come down;
the uncircumcised lie
slain by the sword.'

"Assyria is there with her whole assembly;
her graves are all around her.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit,
and her assembly is all around her burial place.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who once spread terror
in the land of the living.

"Elam is there
with all her hordes around her grave.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who went down to the underworld uncircumcised,
who once spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
Among the slain
they prepare a bed for Elam
with all her hordes.
Her graves are all around her.
All of them are uncircumcised,
slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
They are placed among the slain.

"Meshech and Tubal are there,
with all their hordes.
Their graves are all around them.
All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They do not lie down
with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,
who went down to Sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were placed under their heads
and their shields
rested on their bones,
although the terror of these warriors
was once in the land of the living.
But you will be shattered
and will lie down among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.
"Edom is there, her kings and all her princes,
who, despite their strength, have been placed
among those slain by the sword.

They lie down with the uncircumcised,
with those who descend to the Pit.
All the leaders of the north
and all the Sidonians are there.
They went down in shame with the slain,
despite the terror their strength inspired.
They lie down uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.

"Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted over all his hordes—
Pharaoh and his whole army,
slain by the sword."

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

"For I will spread my terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword."

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Ezekiel as Israel's Watchman

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, speak to your people and tell them, 'Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land select a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman. And suppose he sees the sword coming against the land and blows his ram's horn to warn the people. Then, if anyone hears the sound of the ram's horn but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his death will be his own fault. Since he heard the sound of the ram's horn but ignored the warning, his death is his own fault. If he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. However, suppose the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the ram's horn, so that the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives. Then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.'

"As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, give them a warning from me. If I say to the wicked, 'Wicked one, you will surely die,' but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn't turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.

"Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'You have said this: "Our transgressions and our sins are heavy on us, and we are wasting away because of them! How then can we survive?"' Tell them, 'As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?'

"Now, son of man, say to your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him on the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked person cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person won't be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins. When I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, but he trusts in his righteousness and acts unjustly, then none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the injustice he has committed.

"'So when I tell the wicked person, "You will surely die," but he repents of his sin and does what is just and right— he returns collateral, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing injustice—he will certainly live; he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

"'But your people say, "The Lord's way isn't fair," even though it is their own way that isn't fair. When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will die for it. But if a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. Yet you say, "The Lord's way isn't fair." I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.'"

The News of Jerusalem's Fall

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, "The city has been taken!" Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the fugitive arrived, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

Israel's Continued Rebellion

Then the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.' Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with blood in it, you look to your idols, and you shed blood. Should you then receive possession of the land? You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor's wife. Should you then receive possession of the land?'

"Tell them this: 'This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I have given to wild animals to be devoured, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague. I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through. They will know that I am the Lord when I make the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable acts they have committed.'

"As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One person speaks to another, each saying to his brother, 'Come and hear what the message is that comes from the Lord!' So my people come to you in crowds, sit in front of you, and hear your words, but they don't obey them. Their mouths go on passionately, but their hearts pursue dishonest profit. Yes, to them you are like a singer of passionate songs who has a beautiful voice and plays skillfully on an instrument. They hear your words, but they don't obey them. Yet when all this comes true—and it definitely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

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.